


Moving On (With You)

by Aroomie



Series: Witcher Fic's [16]
Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types, Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski
Genre: ? - Freeform, Abusive Relationships, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blow Jobs, Caring Letho, Cheating, Crushes, Ear Piercings, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Engagement, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Friendship/Love, Happy Ending, Heartbreak, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Injury during sex, Kisses, Lawyer Letho of Gulet, Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, Misunderstandings, Morning Cuddles, Moving On, My OC Arris <3, Nipple Piercings, Past, Pastry Chef Arris, Pastry loving Letho of Gulet, Piercings, Rape/Non-con Elements, SUPER BREIF!, Self Confidence Issues, Self-Doubt, Shameless Smut, Smut, Tender Sex, Tenderness, There is a lot of piercings ok?, Tongue Piercings, all the kisses, blink and you miss it - Freeform, breif, morning blow job
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:28:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27713410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aroomie/pseuds/Aroomie
Summary: Worlds crumble and fall apart. What's important is that you can rebuild and find the strength to move on and learn to love again.Letho comes home to find his long time boyfriend in the arms of another, Arris is kicked out of his home by his abusive partner.One day at a time, one foot in front of the other, they heal and move on, finding new solace and love in each other's arms.((I still suck at summaries Q~Q))((Trigger warnings: abuse, rape, injury during sex, emotional abuse, emotional manipulation.Warning: Light non-con/ Dubious consent(I MAKE IT BETTER) These warnings are VERY brief, a lot of the fic is very soft, fluffy, and fun <3 I hope you give it a chance.)
Relationships: Gaetan (The Witcher)/Original Male Character(s), Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion, Letho z Gulety | Letho of Gulet/Original Male Character(s)
Series: Witcher Fic's [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1852585
Comments: 14
Kudos: 49





	Moving On (With You)

**Author's Note:**

> I MADE A THING!!! I'm HAPPY ABOUT THIS THING!!! LOVE MY THING!! lol
> 
> Please mind the tags and warnings <3
> 
> If you find a tag I was missing, let me know so I can add it!!!  
> (If you are a Gaetan lover, I apologize for the beginning and will tell you now that I do fix it. <3) 
> 
> !!!Thank you SO MUCH to the people who helped beta this!!! <3 @Akikofuma & @Neffectual !!! I love you both so much!! <3  
> **throws love all over them**

Out of all the ways something could end, never in a million years did Letho think that he’d find his long time boyfriend, Gaetan, riding the prick of another man in _their_ bed. Letho’s grip on their bedroom door slowly got tighter and tighter, his lips pulling into a snarl as he watched Gaetan with his head thrown back in ecstasy while moaning filthily, the man below him thrusting up to meet every bounce of the smaller man's body. Letho’s grip had eventually grown so tight, that he snapped the handle from the door and only then did Gaetan and the man beneath him realize he was there. Letho got a good view of someone he never expected to see, someone he never would have guessed would betray him like this. 

“Serrit?” Letho breathed as he stared wide-eyed at the man he had thought of as a brother.

“Letho, darling! You weren’t supposed to be home for another hour!” Gaetan stumbled off the bed, not even having the decency to cover himself as he walked towards Letho. The larger man took a step back from his lover. “Letho... I-it’s not what it looks like.” Gaetan tried, but the glare Letho turned on him made the smaller man’s heart freeze. 

“Not what it looks like? Pray tell, what _exactly_ is it, then? Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you were just fucking someone I used to consider my brother!” Letho bellowed, making Gaetan flinch as Serrit climbed off the bed.

“Letho, look, it… Gaetan, he’s not to blame for this, none of it!” Serrit tried, but Letho silenced him with a snarl, his nose wrinkled up and looked more menacing with the glint of a piercing that sat just above his nostril; a bar going through the flesh and appearing on the other side to mirror the glint with another ball end, a nasallang piercing Gaetan convinced him to get that supposedly matched the bridge piercing he already had. 

“Letho…” Gaetan called out, but Letho just turned to snarl at him, marching across the room to tear open the door of his closet, and grabbing a duffel bag, then moved over to the dresser and began shoving Gaetan’s clothes into it. “Letho! The fuck are you doing!?” Gaetan yelled, but Letho ignored him in favour of stuffing more shirts into the bag, then went into the bathroom that connected to the bedroom, shoving more of Gaetan’s things into it. “Letho!” Gaetan yelled and Letho spun around to see the smaller man standing in the doorway. He snarled and shoved the bag into Gaetan’s arms.

“Get out,” Letho growled and Gaetan’s jaw dropped open. 

“Excuse me?!” Gaetan asked and Letho’s lip pulled into an even uglier sneer. 

“Did I stutter!? Get the fuck out!” Letho yelled, throwing an arm out, then pointed to Serrit. “You too, you fucker! Get the fuck out of _my_ house!” Letho yelled loudly as he shouldered past Gaetan and threw Serrit’s shirt at him when the man failed to dress fast enough. 

“This is my house too, Letho! You can’t just throw me out!” Gaetan yelled and Letho scoffed.

“No. It’s mine, we were _supposed_ to go to the office and get your name on the lease, but I suppose you cancelled on me to go fuck my brother!” Letho growled and Gaetan’s face turned red as he looked away and Letho scoffed. “Get. Out.” Letho snarled and Serrit quickly grabbed hold of Gaetan’s arm, dragging the smaller man out, all the while Gaetan was kicking and screaming.

“What did you expect, Letho!? You were never around! You’re never home! Is your job so fucking important to you, you couldn’t see me!?” Gaetan yelled while Serrit kept hold of the feral man. Letho followed them out and snarled as he threw shoes at the pair. 

“I should be asking you that! How much overtime does a fucking waiter need when he has someone to support him!? I told you to fucking quit so you could be home!” Letho snarled and Gaetan just grinned. 

“I did quit. Two months ago,” Gaetan announced and Letho saw red. He stomped over to the pair, grabbed them both by the arms and bodily threw them out of the front door, not even letting them get their shoes on, and flung other pairs of Gaetan’s shoes at them. 

“Remove yourself off my fucking property, before I call the fucking police!” Letho snarled loudly, throwing a fugly potted plant that Gaetan insisted they bought at Serrit’s head, pleased with himself when it missed his former brother and instead landed on the windshield of Serrit’s car, and shattering the glass. 

“What the fuck Letho!?” Serrit screamed, but Letho ignored him in favour of throwing another plant pot; Serrit quickly got Gaetan into the car, then ran around to the driver’s side and got in, the swamp-green vehicle tearing off down the street.

Letho slammed the door shut, glaring into the empty hall. He’d wanted to surprise Gaetan, to make the evening special; the velvet box in his pants pocket suddenly weighed a thousand pounds, burning a hole where it sat. Letho sank to the floor, running his hands over his scalp, letting out a low suffering sound as he buried his face in his hands, allowing himself this one night to fall apart. Five years of love and care thrown away for an infidelity that would barely last long enough to be called any more than a fling. 

~~~~~

Arris stared at the eviction notice, his predominantly-green hazel eyes wide and quickly filling with tears before darting up to look at the finely dressed man sitting across the table from him.

“I don’t… I don’t understand,” Arris said quietly, frowning hard.

“What is there not to understand? I am going to get married, Arris, that means that we are unable to continue our… arrangement,” the man said with a small smirk, and Arris frowned.

“You… you said I was your lover! That I was the only one you needed, wanted!” Arris fought back the sob that wanted to leave him, proud of himself for not letting the tears in his eyes fall. The man scoffed.

“Come now, Arris, you knew what this was. I’m an important man, I can’t be seen parading about with you. We can’t be anything more than what we were, Arris.” He said it gently, but there was a cruel look to his eyes that had Arris squirming uncomfortably. “Perhaps one last night together, hmm? One final time together as a farewell,” he purred with mock care and stood, stalking around the table to lay a hand on Arris’ shoulder. He made Arris flinch, a harsh smile appearing on the man’s lips. 

Sweet nothings were whispered into Arris’ ear that night, all the while purple bruises bloomed over his pale skin and red marks appearing around the skin of body piercings tugged too hard. Arris was given an hour’s rest before his former partner demanded he gather his things and leave, his packing slowed by the soreness in his muscles and the throbbing in his backside. 

Everything he owned fit into one bag; he’d been told he never needed anything more, nothing personal save for small pieces of jewelry he’d bought for himself in secret, things he adored so much he just couldn’t pass them up. Arris’s former partner called his driver and told him to drop Arris off wherever he wanted to go. Arris sat in the back seat for a good ten minutes before finally deciding to go to his brother, Kaleb. He had said once before that his door would always be open, and he hoped that it would be now. 

Arris stood at the door of his brother’s house, staring at it. It was two in the morning; he shouldn’t be knocking, he could wait, he should wait. There was a noise that had Arris snapping out of his thoughts, blinking quickly, watching in horror as his own hand knocked at the door. Arris quickly pulled his bag back over his shoulder, having dropped it, and retreated down the front steps as quickly as he could, but froze when the porch light turned on and the door opened.

“Arris?” The familiar timbre of his brother’s voice had fresh tears springing to his eyes and Arris looked over his shoulder towards him. 

“Hi, Kaleb,” Arris said quietly, staring at his brother’s dishevelled appearance. A housecoat pulled tight to fight off the cold air, dirty, sleep mussed blond hair , and the imprint of a pillow on the man’s cheek. “S-sorry for waking you. I’ll come back later,” Arris said quickly, turning to retreat back the way he came but Kaleb quickly ran from the porch and grabbed hold of his wrist. 

“Hold on,” Kaleb pleaded, keeping hold of his brother and looked around for the car that always waited for Arris when they had their visits. When he didn’t see it, a new wave of concern rolled through him. “You’re alone?” Kaleb asked and Arris nodded slowly. Kaleb frowned hard, staring at his brother for a moment longer before reaching around and grabbing hold of Arris’s shoulder. Arris let out a weak whimper, flinching away from the touch, and Kaleb growled. “He did this?” he asked, but he already knew the answer even as Arris nodded.

“It’s alright… It’s… He doesn’t want me anymore. He’s getting married,” Arris said weakly, and Kaleb’s lips pulled back into a snarl, gently leading his brother into the house. 

“Fuck him. He’s an abusive cunt, Arris. You don’t need him,” Kaleb said, and Arris’ eyes shot up, frowning hard as fat tears rolled down his cheeks. 

“I’m ruined, Kaleb! No one wants me! He was the only one who cared about me!” Arris sobbed out and Kaleb frowned.

“Beating you while fucking you with no prep is not love, Arris!” Kaleb hissed. “Keeping you prisoner in a house that you couldn’t put your mark on, is not love. Having his fucking driver keep tabs on you and beat you if you see someone, even by accident, that you said you wouldn’t see, is not love!” Kaleb growled. Arris could only sob. 

Kaleb frowned and led his brother to his room, dropping Arris’ bag onto the floor and pulling his brother out of his clothes to catalogue all the welts and bruises decorating his body. “Here, put these on,” Kaleb said, passing a spare set of sleep pants to his brother, “I will get some salve for your back.” Kaleb left his brother to change as he disappeared into the bathroom, coming back not a minute later with a soothing cream that held a hint of numbing to it, to make the possibility of sleep higher. 

Kaleb took his time, removing the hard and itchy string that was laced through the rings of his brother’s corset piercings, applying a generous amount of the salve over the red and irritated skin surrounding the metal rings, then moved on to all the other welts and bruises. When he was finished he put the salve on an end table and pulled his brother down into the bed with him, holding him through the night, running his fingers through the golden strands of Arris’ hair, listening as his brother sobbed until he succumbed to sleep.

Kaleb would help his brother, he would get back the spirited younger brother he once knew, he just needed some guidance on how to be himself once again. To be the Arris he was before that fucking man came into their lives and ruined his younger brother.

~~~~~ Five Months Later ~~~~~

“I don’t know, Kaleb,” Arris frowned as he looked up at his brother from the pastry magazine he’d been reading. Kaleb had been talking with Arris, hinting at buying the building next to his restaurant, wanting to expand it into a cafe that was solely for pastries and drinks. Wanting Arris to be the baker.

“Oh, come on! It would be great,” Kaleb said, smiling brightly at his brother. “I could knock out the sidewall, put in a glass door, and it would be like we’re working together.” Kaleb smiled wider and Arris was starting to worry that his brother’s cheeks were going to split. 

“I haven’t done anything like that in years, Kaleb. I don’t….” Arris looked at the magazine, frowning.

“Then why don’t you just try baking?” Kaleb asked. “Make a starting point for yourself,” he added and Arris frowned harder, his gaze narrowing on the magazine. “You can keep your piercings in,” Kaleb said. “Only take them out if you feel comfortable enough to work the front?” He added but Arris continued to frown while using his tongue to play with the small silver ball that sat in the middle of his lower lip. “Just think about it?” Kaleb asked. “There’s plenty here in the cupboards for you to try making something with. It’s easily replaced. I have to get to the restaurant, I’ll see you after ten,” Kaleb added, then left Arris where the man sat, still playing with his vertical labret.

Arris hated his brother. It was a brilliant idea and he knew it. Arris was never happier than when he was making something in the kitchen. Cooking, baking, it didn’t matter; Arris loved to create something from raw materials provided to him. Arris sat at the table for an unknown amount of time, silently cursing his brother, until he finally sat up proper and flipped a couple pages of the magazine, back to something that had caught his eye. 

Cake pops were easy, an easy start, something he could test drive to see how he felt about baking again after so long; and if it didn’t work out, they were the most easily disposed of.

Arris got lost in his movements, measuring the ingredients, mixing, searching in the cupboards and drawers for items he needed. He was surprised to see his brother still had a piping bag with some tips, as well as food colouring. He’d have to ask Kaleb later why the hell he had them when the man couldn’t bake to save his life, burning his first five attempts at chocolate chip cookies. Then again, when he found all the proper baking needs for the pops, Arris decided he might just not question it. Kaleb somehow always made sure that Arris had what he needed.

It was like riding a bicycle. Arris danced about the kitchen, mixing, pouring, washing things he didn’t need anymore; he’d even begun a different mix that was a little thicker to make little oval blobs, cutting two little points into the tops, and shoved those into the oven while he waited for the pops to cool. It was then a flurry of pinks and whites, dipping and drizzling, piping small flowers on a handheld metal palette that were then transferred onto the tops of the now pink dipped and drizzled white striped cake pops. 

Arris pulled out the tray of the doughier cake, the tips cut into the pastry puffing up and away from the rest to look like little ears, in the middle of decorating them with edible paints to make them look like fat little bunnies when the front door opened and his brother’s voice filtered in from the front door.

“Holy mother of god! Why does it smell like an awesome candy shop in here?!” Kaleb asked loudly and Arris looked over at the clock. Eleven in the evening? When the hell did it get so late? Arris jumped up from his seat and began cleaning up the dirty dishes he wasn’t using anymore, after he finished the last bunny of course, as his brother walked into the kitchen. “They’re pink. Everything is pink!” Kaleb said excitedly and Arris fought back the smile that threatened to spread across his lips, listening as Kaleb walked to the table with the cake pops resting on the surface, popping one into his mouth, letting out a horrifyingly pornographic moan. “Arris!” Kaleb _squealed_ in delight, mouth full. “These are amazing! You didn’t use fondant!” Kaleb said excitedly and Arris scoffed, turning around in time to see Kaleb stuffing a bunny into his mouth.

“Fondant is--”

“Lazy decorating,” Kaleb cut him off, grinning when Arris rolled his eyes at him and turned back to the dishes, finishing them up quickly. “So, you thought about it?” Kaleb asked and Arris paused halfway to putting a bowl into the washing machine.

“I… I’m just… Trying it out… See how I feel,” Arris said quietly and Kaleb nodded slowly, eyeing the desserts.

“Well… there’s plenty here. Mind if I sell them at the restaurant?” Kaleb asked and Arris smiled at him as he watched yet another bunny vanish into his brother's mouth. 

“There won't be enough to sell if you keep shoving them in your face,” Arris said, and Kaleb gasped, completely offended, then shoved yet another bunny into his mouth. 

“I’ll have you know--!” Kaleb swallowed around the cake in his mouth. “I’ll have you know I have excellent restraint!” He said with offence, and Arris lifted a brow as he watched as another cake pop disappeared into his brother’s mouth.

“Uh-huh,” Arris said skeptically and Kaleb smirked. 

“There he is,” Kaleb said fondly and Arris’ head tilted to the side, random strands of his hair falling in his face. “I missed my brother,” Kaleb clarified and Arris gave a small smile before crossing the kitchen, wrapping his arms around his brother in a tight hug, Kaleb’s lips laying a gentle kiss against his crown. “I missed you, little brother,” Kaleb said and Arris tightened his hold on Kaleb.

~~~~~

Letho shuffled through the piles of paperwork on his desk, setting the less important things to the side while putting everything related to the case he was working on in a neat pile in front of him. A low growl of annoyance left him when his phone started to ring, and he didn’t bother checking to see who it was before picking it up, shuffling through a few pages in hand while quickly pressing the phone to his ear. 

“Gulet,” Letho answered, short and curt.

“Letho! Listen, don’t ha--” Letho snarled, slamming the phone back down when Serrit’s voice filtered through the speaker, then he picked it up and slammed it back down for good measure.

“Whoa, what’d the phone ever do to you?” Letho looked up from the papers to see Geralt stepping into his office, folder in hand, and Letho’s brow twitched.

“It allows my cunt fuck of an ex-brother to call me. Is that the police file?” Letho asked, motioning to the folder and Geralt nodded, flicking it onto Letho’s desk and dropping down into a chair across from the man. 

“Still angry?” Geralt asked and Letho simply lifted a brow at the white-haired man.

“You go home to find Eskel fucking Jaskier,” Letho said bitterly and Geralt’s brow furrowed and a hard frown landed on his lips.

“Point,” Geralt conceded, leaning forward in his seat and rubbing a hand across the back of his neck. “I’m sorry, Letho. Truly. I never would have thought that Serrit would have…” Geralt sighed while Letho dropped the papers in his hand and looked at Geralt. 

“What do you want, wolf?” Letho asked. Geralt was the most aggressive information broker working for the firm, earning the nickname, creating gold from mere scraps of information. 

“You have been angry, more than usual,” Geralt said, before adding, “We’re worried about you.”

“We?” Letho asked, picking up the papers again. 

“Yes, we. Me, Jaskier, Eskel, fuck even Lambert is worried about you, and that fucker doesn’t like anyone,” Geralt said, splaying his hands out in a pleading gesture. 

“I’m fine, wolf,” Letho growled, sorting a few more pieces of paper. “I just… I need to focus on work,” Letho said sadly, sorting more pages.

“Hmmm,” Geralt watched Letho for a few more moments before leaning forward in his seat. “Listen, Jaskier said he’s going to be moving from his job as a waiter at the restaurant to a pastry cafe that’s going to open next door, he highly recommends it. Get out of the office, get a coffee, get a fuckin’ cake or something. Anything to get out of,” Geralt waved a hand about in Lethos’ direction, “whatever this is.” Letho snorted, glancing up at Geralt when the white-haired man stood and gave him an almost pleading look.

“Yes, fine, whatever! Now get the fuck out of here, you don’t get paid to counsel me,” Letho growled and flicked his hand towards the door, making Geralt laugh. 

“No? Someone has to,” Geralt teased and slipped behind the door of Letho’s office just as Letho threw a stress ball at him. 

Letho shook his head, a small smile creeping over his lips. A new cafe, huh? Maybe he would go look, he’d always had a surprisingly sweet tooth. 

~~~~~ Six Months Later ~~~~~

It was very hard not to hear about the opening of the new bakery, five weeks ago now, that Jaskier had his shifts changed to the waiter and part-time musician wouldn’t shut up about the fucking place. How Geralt was able to put up with the constant gibbering of his lover, Letho would never understand. They were all seated in Letho’s office, Jaskier ranting about the pastry chef and what an utter delight the man was, and Letho had begun to tune the talkative man out to go back to his papers when, suddenly, a bright pink box was placed in front of him.

“The fuck is this?” Letho asked, looking up at Jaskier. The younger man just smiled annoyingly bright.

“Geralt said that you have a sweet tooth,” Jaskier said and Letho turned to glare over at the white-haired man, who just shrugged at him with a patient smile. “So I brought you something I think you’ll like!” Jaskier added and slid the box closer to Letho. “We also have the most wonderful coffee there! Oh, Geralt, have I told you about the coffee?!” Jaskier asked, bouncing over to his lover and dropping into his lap.

“Yes, Jaskier. You’ve told me about the coffee, and the animal marshmallows,” Geralt said, while he snaked an arm around Jaskier’s waist, the brunette smiling even wider, if that was even possible, as he tucked his head against Geralt’s shoulder.

“Animal… Marshmallows?” Lethos’ brow lifted and Jaskier perked up once more, clapping his hands a couple of times.

“Okay, so, it’s really cool! He takes a bag of marshmallows and melts them all down, as you would with making homemade rice krispie squares, then goes into the walk-in cooler and just… Pours them out! Because of the cold, the shape just stays there! He’s got bears, and cats, and the other day,” Jaksier turned to Geralt now, “He made this one kid a _wolf_ cause it was his birthday and it’s his favourite animal!” Jaskier said excitedly and Geralt rolled his eyes with a small laugh.

“You told me last night, Jaskier,” Geralt said and Jaskier gasped.

“I did? Oh, bugger,” Jaskier pouted, slouching in Geralt’s lap but perked up immediately when the white-haired man placed a kiss against his cheek. That annoyingly bright smile appeared on his face again. 

“You’ve been talking about this place non-stop since it opened, Jaskier,” Letho grouched. “How great can it possibly be?” He asked and Jaskier gasped, completely offended. 

“I’ll have you know--!” Jaskier’s words were cut off when his watch blared annoyingly at them and he checked the time, yelping quietly. “And that’s my lunch hour,” Jaskier said and leaned over to place a sweet kiss against Geralt’s lips before he bounced to his feet.

“I’ll walk with you,” Geralt said and stood, smirking as Jaskier took his hand and began tugging him along. “You really should go see the cafe, Letho. You’d enjoy it.” Geralt laughed as Jaskier whined, tugging harder, and the couple left Letho’s office. Letho rolled his eyes, still able to hear Jaskier’s exciting ramblings even through his door, and leaned on his desk while he pressed the heel of his hands to his eyes and groaned quietly. Lowering his hands, Letho eyed the pink box in front of him before letting out a heavy sigh. He reached over, flipping the top open and froze at the elegant pink pastry sitting inside. 

It looked like an upside-down cone, and was that fondant? Letho groaned. Fondant always had a funny texture to him, but Jaskier did go out of his way to bring this for him, so he may as well try it, lest he suffer the resulting whining that would come from the man. Letho plucked at the small fondant-looking swirl that was decorating the small stack of icing, and his brow lifted when he noticed immediately that the pink colour of it was melting with the heat from his fingers. He quickly popped it into his mouth. Chocolate?

Letho licked the melted bits from his fingers and took a closer look at what he was truly eating. The swirl of the icing was definitely a buttercream of some flavour, and a small chocolate flower, with - was that sugar work? - delicate stems underneath it, balanced on top of the whole confection. Flecks of edible gold leaf decorated the icing and Letho tilted his head slightly to get a look at the underside, a spread of chocolate made to look like a paint spill sitting under the icing and separating it from the small globed cake underneath, the cake resting on top of an even smaller cookie. Letho blinked and straightened, staring at the pink pastry in all its annoyingly elegant glory, then quickly picked the small thing up with his fingers and popped the whole thing into his mouth. 

As soon as the icing hit his tongue, Letho immediately regretted not taking his time with it. The buttercream melted on his taste buds and a burst of strawberry-vanilla flavour filled his mouth, a shameless groan leaving him as he slowly chewed, trying to savour every last bit of the pastry before he had to swallow. He looked at his fingers to see that there was still icing on them and, regardless of how ridiculous he might look, brought his fingers to his mouth and _slowly_ licked the digits clean. He even stuck his tongue out completely and pressed one finger into the split there - one of his more extreme body modifications - and curled his tongue around his finger to get as much icing off of it as possible. 

After, when Letho’s fingers were licked thoroughly of any icing remnants, Letho just stared at his hand and rolled his tongue around his mouth, savouring the aftertaste of the pastry. Letho shifted his gaze from his hand and over to the clock on his desk, brow arching slightly. It was his lunch hour, he hadn’t actually taken his lunch hour for its intended purpose in forever, since breaking up with Gaetan. Letho’s lips pressed together tightly, debating, then he looked back to the pink box sitting sinfully empty on his desk and stood up with enough force to make his wheeled office chair zoom across the room and bump into the windows behind him. He stomped around to the door, ripped his coat off the stand, and opened the door with almost too much force.

“Mr. Gulet?” His secretary asked, expecting something had gone wrong.

“I’m… I’m headed to lunch. Hold my calls,” Letho growled, and his secretary’s mouth fell open before she could stop it. Letho just ignored her sputtering as he walked down the hall, throwing his coat on and pulling the front straight, and hit the button to the elevators. Letho stared down at his watch, watching as the hands ticked away the seconds until the elevator doors opened and he stepped inside, fiddling with his watch now as he waited to reach the main level of the building. Letho had opened a law firm with Geralt’s adopted father, Vesemir, a couple of years ago; the old man was experienced in ways of the law that Letho could only dream of, and he was now slowly learning every trick and sleight of hand the old man knew. Geralt and his brothers did not have the mind for law, but they did have minds for gathering useful information, and blackmail, so worked under the firm's name as brokers.

Letho stepped around the people that tried to pile into the elevator when it reached the lobby, dipping his head respectfully to Lambert and Eskel as the two of them stared at the man in surprised shock. He could hear Lambert saying something about how Letho never left at that time of day, Eskel mumbling that something must have happened, and Letho fled quickly before they could ask him what the rush was. Because that’s exactly what it was, a rush. Letho needed more of those delicious pastries, to have the flavours bursting over his tongue, and it was times like these that he was thankful that the very few things that he enjoyed were all within walking distance of his office. 

It took him ten minutes to get to the cafe, his brow rising high as he saw how many people were lined up just for the display case, not even counting the people that were waiting to sit down. Letho cursed under his breath and rubbed a hand over his face, resigning himself to the fact he wasn’t going to get any more of the pastries today and turned to leave when a familiar voice made him pause.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Letho Gulet!” Letho spun around once again, smiling politely at the man with dirty blond hair who approached him.

“Kaleb,” Letho greeted, and Kaleb smiled wide.

“Nice to see you out of the office! What brings you?” Kaleb asked and Letho licks his lips, debating for a moment on not saying anything but then sighed heavily as the want for the pastry outweighed any dignity. 

“Jaskier brought me a pastry…. Pink, flower on top, gold leaf?” Letho questioned, and Kaleb smiled knowingly. “I… I was going to get more, but,” Letho motioned to the line and Kaleb looked over his shoulder at it, chuckling. 

“Pish posh,” Kaleb announced and grabbed Letho’s wrist, weaving his way past the people lined up, a few of them scoffing in annoyance as Letho was pulled, literally, to the front of the line. Kaleb waited until the customer at the front had finished their order and paid before pulling Letho in front of him. The large smile of Jaskier greeted him.

“Letho! Didn’t I just see you?” Jaskier teased, and Letho growled, looking away.

“Play nice, Jaskier. He’s out of the office,” Geralt said from behind the counter and Letho’s brow lifted. 

“Second job, Geralt?” Letho asked and Geralt rolled his eyes with a smirk.

“They needed extra hands. I have extra hands,” Geralt wiggled his fingers as if making a point and Letho sighed.

“Letho wants another of the pastries you brought him, Jaskier,” Kaleb supplied helpfully, and Jaskier’s smile somehow got even wider. 

“I knew you’d like that one! We just got a fresh bunch, how many do you want?” Jaskier asked. Letho looked over at the case, seeing at least a dozen of those annoyingly perfectly elegant pink pastries staring at him.

“All of them,” Letho said. Jaskier blinked.

“Sorry?” Kaleb asked and Letho looked at him. “Letho, they’re fifteen each,” Kaleb said and Letho just nodded.

“All of them,” Letho looked back at the case, looking at the small fat bunny looking things. “And five of those,” he added, pointing at the bunny looking one. Kaleb’s mouth fell open and he looked at Jaskier who just smiled and waved at Geralt, who grabbed two boxes, one large and one small, and began packing the pastries away as Letho passed his card over to Jaskier. Card handed back and boxes safely in hand, Letho thanked Kaleb for rushing him to the front then took his leave, ignoring the dirty looks he’d gotten from the people near the front as they eyed his box of pink pastry. He felt smug, these ones were his, he’d bought all of them before someone else could; now they had to order something else or wait for more. 

Letho stared at the boxes sitting innocently on his desk. He stared at them for a long while before popping open the box that contained the bunny-shaped ones, and unlike last time, he pulled it apart piece by piece, taking his time with it. It tasted like hazelnut; the cake moist and fluffy on his tongue, an aftertaste of blueberries bursting on his taste buds. Letho sunk into his chair, utterly content with his completely unhealthy lunch, and for the first time since kicking Gaetan from his life, he had never felt more content. 

Amazing what a good pastry can do.

~~~~~

“What do you mean we need a restock?” Kaleb asked as he rounded the counter after Arris’svoice came from the kitchen. He walked in to see Arris hunched over the kitchen island, paperwork strewn about and the pantry opened wide, using a pen to count things from where he stood.

“Exactly as it sounds, Kaleb,” Arris said with humour. “If you have that many people lined up for days on end, you gotta know you’re going to need to make more orders.” He looked back down at the papers before him. “I have enough ingredients to make cakes and cookies, less extravagant things considering I used most of the gold leaf on those pink cones,” Arris said, tapping the pen against his lips. “I have enough for maybe a week, less depending on how much sells.” Arris looked up at Kaleb. “Can we get a new order if I make a list?” He asked and Kaleb gave a small nod.

“I believe so. The company I work with for deliveries should be able to make a rush order if I can get them a list by,” Arris shoves a page towards him, “tonight.” Kaleb finished with a laugh, looking at the page and seeing that the orders were double what they had initially ordered. Smart. Kaleb had never imagined that the cafe would be so popular, that they would need so much. Kaleb smiled and walked around the table, kissing Arris’s hair while pulling his brother into a side hug. “You done good, little brother,” Kaleb smiled and Arris shoved him off, blushing light pink. “I’ll make a call and let you know when we’ll get the order.” 

Arris nodded, looking back down at the paper in front of him and scribbling down notes, sketching small designs, planning more pastries he could try and make. Kaleb smiled as he watched his brother, finally becoming the man he should have been years ago. Arris would have been much better in his crafting of pastries had that man not kept Arris locked in an apartment with nothing to do but be a bed warmer. Kaleb smiled more, knowing Arris would continue to flourish, then he looked to the list in his hand and fished his phone from his pocket and dialled. 

~~~~~ Two Weeks Later ~~~~~

Letho had a new routine, one that he didn’t know if he wanted to be ashamed of or just accept; ever since his first stop at the cafe, he had found himself stopping there every morning for the past two weeks. He would order a coffee and whatever their freshest danish was that morning, then have a seat, where he would look over papers from the previous night while he waited and completely ignored Jaskier’s smug smile when he placed the plate and cup on the table. He’d take his time, savouring the flavour of the pastry and even going as far as wetting his finger on his tongue to pick up the parts that had flaked off and left as little as possible on his plate. He would then pay for his breakfast, getting a _single_ pastry to have at lunch while ordering something from next door to be delivered for a proper meal. 

Letho loved the pastries, but he needed to eat normally as well. His regular visits to the cafe had already increased his visits to the gym. He would always pick either the most delicate or most adorable looking pastry that was in the case, taking his time to look them over and what their flavours are. He found himself favouring anything with strawberry or raspberry in it, evident by that day’s pair of meringue nests, with raspberry custard in the center and decorated with strawberries cut to look like flowers. 

Letho gave Jaskier a glare when the man grinned at him, snatched his box of treats off the counter and began stalking his way out of the cafe. 

"Letho?" Letho froze just outside the door of the cafe at the familiar voice. "Letho is that you?" Why in God's name did he have to sound excited? Letho slowly turned around, his gaze landing on the one person he never expected to see again. "It is you!" Gaetan smiled wide, running over to him and tapping his arm playfully. “Long time no see! How long has it been?” Gaetan asked sweetly and Letho’s grip tightened on his box.

“Year… Almost a year,” Letho growled out through gritted teeth.

“So long already!?” Gaetan gasped with false surprise and Letho’s brow twitched.

“What are you doing here, Gaetan? Don’t you live with Serrit now?” Letho asked, a scowl firmly set on his features. Gaetan scoffed.

“Serrit? Who… Ah! Your brother person? No,” Gaetan smiled widely and motioned over his shoulder before pivoting and pointing over towards a sleek black looking vehicle. Letho’s brow twitched. “I stay with Emhyr Emreis these days. He is quite the catch if I say so myself.” 

Letho couldn’t help but roll his eyes, his grip tightening further on the pastry box in his hand. Of course, Gaetan would find someone with money they could throw away like fucking candy.

Inside the cafe, Jaskier frowned as he watched the exchange through the window, worrying his lower lip between his teeth.

“Jaskier?” Jaskier spun around, seeing Arris come around the counter from the kitchens. “Aren’t you heading for your break?” Arris asked, but Jaskier shook his head and motioned outside, Arris following the gesture with a lifted brow.

“A friend of Geralt’s is… in a spot,” Jaskier said and Arris’ Brow lifted a little bit more, walking around Jaskier and began making a latte. 

“Who is he?” Arris asked, watching the scene while Jaskier began explaining. 

“Short one is Gaetan, an unfaithful piece of work, that one, and the larger one is your biggest fan,” Jaskier smirked, looking over at Arris who rolled his eyes. “His name is Letho. Gaetan and he used to be together but the big man walked in on Gaetan fucking someone he considered a brother,” Jaskier said and Arris frowned.

“Shit. That sounds horrible,” Arris said and Jaskier laughed bitterly.

“You could say that. Wait, where are you going?” Jaskier’s brow lifted as he watched Arris pick up the latte he’d just finished making, dropping a newly designed crane marshmallow on top of the thin layer of foam before snapping the domed plastic lid onto the paper cup.

“Me? Nowhere,” Arris smiled sweetly, and Jaskier’s mouth fell open as he watched Arris rush to the door and threw it open.

“Love! You forgot your drink!” Arris said cheerfully, rushing over to Letho whose eyes went wide with surprise as the man, barely taller than Gaetan, ran up to him and took hold of his wrist, pushing the to-go cup into his grip. He was cute, with golden hair tied up into a loose bun and wearing a serving apron from the cafe.

“Love?” Gaetan looked between Letho and the golden-haired man, his brow scrunching up. “Letho, who the fuck is that?” Gaetan snapped, pointing at Arris who turned to face him with a look of surprise on his features.

“Oh! Was that too soon?” Arris looked up at Letho. “I know we just started going out, but I thought it was alright?” Arris asked, batting his eyes sweetly as he stared up at Letho through his lashes. It took a moment for Letho’s brain to reboot and catch up to what was happening; the gorgeous man standing in front of him had the most memorizing eyes, and he cleared his throat with a small shake of his head.

“Not at all, Little Bird,” Letho purred and the smile on Arris’ face grew so wide it looked like it hurt. 

“I’m sorry, dating!?” Gaetan snarled, glaring between Arris and Letho.

“But of course!” Arris said, spinning to look back at Gaetan while stepping next to Letho and looping his slim arms around one of Letho’s larger ones. “It’s been the most wondrous week,” Arris said wistfully, with a happy sigh, and rested his head on Letho’s arm. Gaetan was fuming, and Letho couldn’t find it in himself to feel even remotely sorry for him. Why should he care if Letho has moved on, even if it wasn’t real? Letho glanced at Arris and then really looked at the man, small semi-visible holes above his brow and his lip showed he used to have piercings. Letho wondered if they were closed or if he just took them out for work, his hair pulled back in such a way that he couldn’t tell if Arris’ ears were pierced or not. 

“No offence to you, pretty boy,” Gaetan sneered, “but Letho would never move on so fast. It took him four years to move on with me from his past relationship, and I was a fucking fantastic lay! No way he’d get over me, especially not with someone like you!” Gaetan pointed a finger at Arris and the man frowned, Letho catching the hurt in his eyes from the words.

“Who the fuck says?!” Letho bellowed, suddenly angry at Gaetan for causing pain to the gorgeous man on his arm. “You don’t know me, Gaetan, and evidently I don’t know you. You’d be surprised how easy it is to get over someone when you find them fucking your brother.” Letho snarled and Gaetan took a hesitant step back. Letho felt proud of himself for two seconds before realizing that the hands on his arm were shaking, violently, and he looked down to see that Arris’ eyes had grown wide and were staring past Gaetan’s’ shoulder towards an older gentleman that had stepped out of the sleek black car and was walking towards them. 

“I was wondering what was taking you so long, Kitten,” the man purred, placing a hand on Gaetan’s lower back. “Arris, wonderful to see you again,” he said with a cruel grin.

“You know this fuck?” Gaetan asked, looking towards the older man and hooked his thumb towards Arris. 

“Of course. He used to be mine,” the man purred and Gaetan turned a hard glare on Arris, his lips pulled back into a snarl. 

“You just fuck anything, don’t you? Slut.” Gaetan snapped and Arris lowered his gaze. The smile on the older man's lips made Letho seethe.

“He has done nothing to prompt these words from you, Gaetan. Continue with your actions and I might have to file for harassment,” Letho growled and Gaetan’s mouth fell open.

“My, my. You seem to have found yourself a new one with claws, my swan,” the man said, none too kindly, and Arris flinched. “Though I wonder…. How true is this thing between you? I have not seen you near this man in all the times we’ve come by this store, and suddenly when my Kitten speaks to him… here you are,” He said and Arris' grip tightened on Letho’s arm, Letho’s lip pulling into a snarl. 

“What is it with you fucking people?” Letho growled, and without another word spun to set his box and to-go cup down on one of the tables outside the cafe before turning to face Arris head-on. He cradled each side of Arris’ face gently, staring into his eyes as he smiled sweetly while stroking his thumb across Arris’ cheekbone. Arris’ eyes fluttered shut, only pretending the smallest amount as he desperately leaned into the touch, reaching up and gripping Letho’s wrist for something to hold onto. “Now watch carefully, Gaetan, this is how lovers are supposed to kiss one another,” Letho said, giving a sidelong look to Gaetan before tugging Arris up, encouraging the smaller man to stand on his tippy toes, while Letho bent down partially to meet him in the middle and their lips fell together. 

Arris couldn’t help the sound that left him as soon as Letho’s lips touched his, the snakebite piercings on the larger man’s lip pressing against his skin comfortably, and he moved his hands from Letho’s wrists and reached up around his shoulders so he could get a better grip of the man via the back of his suit jacket. Meanwhile, Letho’s hands slid from his cheeks to down his neck and across his shoulders, sliding down his front then finally winding around Arris’ waist and pulling the smaller man against his chest with enough force to make him gasp against his lips. 

Letho groaned quietly at the feel of Arris’ arms around his shoulders, holding tight to his jacket, and playfully licked at the seam of his lips. He was very surprised when Arris’ mouth opened to him. He tasted like buttercream and trace amounts of strawberry, Letho couldn’t help but slide his tongue further into Arris’ mouth, craving more of the sweet flavours. He paused only a second when his tongue rolled over the metal ball of a tongue piercing and Letho groaned, twisting his tongue in such a way that the two separate sections wrapped around Arris’ tongue and played with the piercing there.

Arris let out a surprised noise when Letho’s tongue split and became two, gripping his jacket tighter and trying his damndest to _not_ shamelessly grind himself against the hulking man with the intriguing body mod. Instead, he went with the somewhat safer option of pushing further into the kiss, moving his tongue across Letho’s in a way that made playing with his piercing easier. 

The need for proper air had the pair reluctantly pulling away from each other. Arris left his mouth open for a second and Letho caught a wonderful sight of the silver ball sitting in the middle of his tongue while Letho left his tongue sticking out the barest amount, flicking the separate tips at Arris playfully and making the man smile up at him. 

“Ahem!” Letho and Arris both jumped at the noise and turned their heads, brows lifting in tandem as their gaze landed on a very annoyed looking Gaetan and a stunned look on the older man’s face. “Are you fucking serious right now?!” Gaetan yelled. “Him?!” He screamed, and Letho’s brow lifted further as he looked back at Arris, a large grin appearing on his lips. 

“Yes. Him,” Letho stated and looked back at Gaetan, returning to an upright position while Arris lowered to the balls of his feet, his hands slid down Letho’s shoulders and ended up resting on his chest. 

“What the fuck, Emhyr!?” Gaetan whirled on the older man who snapped out of his shock and glared at Gaetan. 

“Don’t take that tone with me, boy,” Emhyr growled and Letho could see the moment something dark flickered across the face of the man in his arms. 

“How’s your wife, Emhyr?” Arris asked out of the blue, and the older man’s eyes went wide as he snapped his gaze back at Arris.

“Wife? What wife?” Gaetan asked, looking back and forth between Emhyr and Arris. 

“He didn’t tell you?” Arris asked. “He threw me away because he was getting married.” He added and Gaetan’s gaze snapped to Emhyr, who was glaring at Arris with so much hate that Letho was impressed that the poor man didn’t suddenly burst into flames. ”But! I suppose I should thank him,” Arris said as he spun around in Letho’s arms, the hulking man refusing to let go, and motioned at the cafe. “I have this now, and this,” Arris said cheekily, spinning again and wrapping his arms around Letho’s waist the best he could as he laid his head on Letho’s chest. 

Emhyr was fuming, opening and closing his mouth and trying to find the words, but he was interrupted by Gaetan spinning around and pushing at the older man’s chest, yelling and cursing at the man. Finally, Emhyr grabbed Gaetan by the wrist and pulled him into the car, barely closing the door before it started to drive away. Arris and Letho stared after the car for a few minutes before suddenly bursting out in laughter, Letho’s arms still wrapped around Arris’ waist and holding the smaller man up as he laughed so hard he almost fell over. 

Letho was first to regain himself, smiling down at the man in his arms while Arris hiccupped and wiped the tears from his eyes before finally taking a deep breath and straightening his clothes. Letho reluctantly dropped his arms from around Arris’ waist once he was sure that he wouldn’t fall over with laughter, smiling down at him and Arris took one last deep breath before offering a hand.

“I’m Arris,” Arris said with a small smile and Letho chuckled softly.

“Letho,” Letho returned the greeting, taking hold of Arris’s hand. 

“I know,” Arris said with a smirk. “Jaskier wanted to help, but I don’t think it would have ended quite as well if he had stepped in,” Arris said with a small laugh and Letho grinned with a shake of his head.

“Probably not, no,” Letho looked into the cafe, seeing Jaskier staring at them with a cheeky smirk and he rolled his eyes. 

“It was a, ahem, pleasure to meet you, Letho,” Arris said with a sweet smile. “Enjoy the coffee, on me,” Arris said with a playful wink and Letho’s mouth went dry, watching as Arris quickly spun around and ran back into the cafe. He looked in through the window and watched as Arris shooed Jaskier away from the till, no doubt telling the man to take a break. Letho picked up the box and to-go cup, and turned to go, with one last look in the window, watching as Arris served a small box to a customer. Letho grinned to himself and looked at the small box in his hands as he started walking to his office. There was only one thing he wished, that the gorgeous waiter serving the pastries was the one who made them. Life would hardly be that kind.

Letho arrived back at his desk and stared at the pile of papers before him, his eyes catching the pink box of pastry, then the cup Arris had given him. He huffed a small laugh, smiling as he reached for the cup, but his brow lifted as he saw the drinking hole was sealed, so he popped the top off and was unable to keep the smile from his lips as he saw the little bird sitting on top of the steaming liquid. It seemed that “Little Bird” was an appropriate nickname after all.

Over the next couple of days, Letho stopped at the cafe at the exact same time every day, and every time, Arris was standing behind the counter with the new pastry creation of the day already in the box, with coffee sitting on top. The coffee always needed the lid popped off and would reveal a differently shaped animal; after the crane was a bear, the day after that was a cat, after that a dog, and then a coiled-up snake, the mere sight of which made Letho smile so wide that his cheeks grew sore. 

“Yes, Jaskier. Yes, I got it.” Geralt spoke quietly, staring over at Letho’s office door with a small smirk on his lips. “Will you just shut up? I got it. I’ll ask.” Geralt rolled his eyes as his lover just continued to ramble, shaking his head with a fond smile. “Jask. Stop talking, don’t you have work?” There was a loud squawk on the other end that made Geralt smile more. “Get back to work, love. I will talk to him and let you know what is going on by lunch, okay?” Geralt chuckled quietly, shaking his head once again. “I love you too. Now shut up and get to work, my Lark.” Geralt quickly hung up the phone and shoved it into his pocket, smiling fondly for another moment before getting up from his seat and walking over to Letho’s office, knocking once before going in. 

“Wolf? What do you need?” Letho asked, looking up at the knock on his door and lifting a brow. 

“Nothing of great import as of now, but I wish to ask something of you,” Geralt said, and Letho motioned to the seat across from his desk. Geralt sat down. “Jaskier wishes to go out tomorrow night, a social evening we attempt once a week. He wishes that I extend the invitation for you to join us.” Letho raised an eyebrow, staring at Geralt.

“And you are okay with me joining in on your date night?” Letho asked, skeptical, and Geralt just shrugged.

“Jaskier thinks it’s about time you take a step forward, as do I, and get out. Maybe meet someone,” Geralt said and Letho scowled. 

“I do not need to meet someone, Wolf,” Letho growled and Geralt rolled his eyes.

“Yes, yes, and the last time you had a good fuck is…?” Geralt drew out the last word, waiting for Letho to fill in the gap, but when Letho scowled harder and turned back to his papers, Geralt smiled. “Exactly. Nothing has to happen, it’s just to get out, have a life outside of work,” Geralt smiled wider, “and the cafe.” Letho’s head snapped up. “Jaskier tells me you stop by there every morning.” 

“And?” Letho asks and Geralt shrugs, motioning to the pink box on Letho’s desk. 

“Nothing, it’s just nice to see you enjoying something again,” Geralt said with a small smile and Letho just grunted. “Think about it, hmm? Let me know by the end of today if you wish to join so that we can select a proper location.” Geralt got up from his seat, Letho’s eyes followed him, without lifting his head, and watched as Geralt left. 

Letho growled under his breath, rubbing his hands over his face harshly before he leaned back in his seat and sighed heavily. He eyed the pink box, staring at the annoyingly elegant lace pattern that decorated the rim, his lip twitching slightly. Fine. He’d go out, he’d put on a happy face if only to get everyone off his fucking back. He was fine with how things were going, he was progressing at his own pace. Letho sighed and reached over to the box, flipping open the top and smirking to himself as he stared down at the four cake pops. Each one decorated with elegant swirls and sparkles, one with a chocolate flower, one with gold leaf and swirled with two different chocolate types. Letho reached over and plucked one from the box, popped it in his mouth and savoured the flavour while flipping the box closed and returning to his paperwork. 

Who knows, maybe he’d have more fun than he thought. 

~~

Jaskier smiled as he ended his call with Geralt and quickly shoved his phone in his pocket, Arris coming around the corner but paused and stared at Jaskier with a lifted brow.

“Why are you smiling like that?” Arris asked.

“Like what?” Jaskier tilted his head, touching his face with his hands.

“Like you just ate a canary, or murdered Valdo,” Arris supplied and Jaskier scoffed loudly, waving a hand about.

“Don’t ruin a good day by mentioning _him_ , you ass,” Jaskier said, and Arris laughed. “But honestly, Geralt and I were organizing date night.” Jaskier watched Arris’s back as he spoke. “We were thinking, maybe you would like to come with us?” Arris’ head snapped about to look at him with a frown.

“Seriously? You want me to join in on your date night with your white-haired bae?” Arris teased and Jaskier rolled his eyes with a smile.

“Fuck off.” They both laughed “We were just thinking that maybe you’d like to join us, have company on a night out.” Jaskier smiled, head tilting. “Who knows, maybe you’d meet someone.” Arris frowned, turning and plucking a few things off the shelves. 

“I don’t know…,” Arris started, but Jaskier was quick to cut in.

“You don’t have to, of course! You could just stay with me and Geralt. We would be more than happy to have you with us! Please, just consider it? We’re going out tomorrow, so you don’t have to decide now,” Jaskier asked, watching Arris, and smiling wide when he saw the man nod slightly. He squealed in utter delight and hugged Arris from behind before running back out to tend to the customers. 

Arris huffed a small laugh, looking over his shoulder, and watched as Jaskier bounced around behind the counter and set coffee to brew. Maybe finally getting out wouldn’t be such a bad idea; he could ask his brother to help string up his corset piercing’s rings with soft silk, maybe wear that open back shirt to show it off… Arris smiled to himself, pouring out a measure of milk and flour. It could be fun to finally be himself outside of the bakery and home. 

Maybe he would finally find himself completely. 

~~~~~ The Following Night ~~~~~

Arris glared at the small body jewellery bar between his fingers, spinning it about as he tried to select which colour ball he wished to use. He could go with the black one, or perhaps the green, no no, the silver? Fuck. Arris grumbled in frustration and ran a hand through his hair, grabbing hold of the golden strands. 

“Pick the metallic blue.” Arris jumped at his brother's voice, spinning around to see Kaleb standing at the bathroom door. “It’s your favourite one, and it will match the ribbon I’ve picked out,” Kaleb said and held up a powder blue silk ribbon that made Arris smile. “Come, finish putting on your shiny bits and we’ll get you strung up.” 

Arris laughed softly, watching his brother flip about the ribbon-like an elementary school girl before turning around and picking up the metallic blue pieces of jewellery from their case. He screwed one onto the end of the small bar and guided the empty end through his lower lip before he screwed on the other ball, smiling at the shiny glint now resting in the middle of his full lip. A matching bar placed horizontally just above his brow with another set of balls in the same metallic blue, to match his lip, his ears decorated with plain silver.

“I don’t know about this, Kaleb,” Arris said as he walked into the bedroom, fiddling with the button of his dark denim pants. His brother rolled his eyes.

“Oh shut up and get over here. Get your shirt on so that it’s easier to get this ribbon on after,” Kaleb said, waving off to the left. Arris turned to see the soft grey velvety material of his shirt and huffed as he walked over to it. He fiddled with the material for a moment before tugging it on over his head, pulling his hair out from the collar and wiggling as he pulled the hem down and tucked the long end past the rim of his jeans. He pulled his hair over his shoulder, the ends now reaching to the middle of his ribs, and grabbed a brush off the dresser so he could brush it out while Kaleb did the ribbon. He sat down heavily on his bed with an exaggerated groan that made Kaleb grin and shoves his shoulder gently, making Arris squawk and offered a better angle for his back. 

Kaleb began looping the ribbon through the small rings on Arris’ back, twisting and folding the ribbon around, secretly adding another length of black to create a further intricate design on the man’s back, smiling proudly with himself when he finally finished and stepped back to admire his work, the design looking like a set of folded wings.

“Done?” Arris asked and Kaleb hummed in confirmation before reaching over and taking the brush from his brother, making Arris groan. “I’m not a child, Kaleb,” Kaleb smirked.

“No, but knowing you, you won’t do anything with this golden mop, and you deserve to look your best,” Kaleb said. Arris sighed dramatically but let Kaleb do as he pleased. By the time he was done, Arris’ hair was pulled back and folded snuggly against his head in a french braid that fanned out once it reached the end of his scalp, the rest of the strands folded up and braided into three smaller sections that were folded and tucked against the base of his skull. He lifted a hand to pat at the braids, his brow scrunched up.

“The fuck, Kaleb? That’s too much,” Arris grouched, turning to look at his brother with a scowl. 

“Oh shut up, Arris. You look great,” Kaleb smirked. “Besides, it’s too late to change it now, Jaskier and Geralt are going to arrive any second.” Arris opened his mouth to protest but was cut off when the doorbell rang and Kaleb grinned widely and bolted for the door. 

“Kaleb!” Arris yelled, jumping off the couch to chase after his brother and got to the door just in time to have Kaleb open it wide.

“Geralt! Jaskier! Lovely to see you, you’re both looking dashing.” Kaleb said and Arris could hear Geralt’s grunt of annoyed acceptance while Jaskier laughed and stepped inside happily when Kaleb stepped to the side. Jaskier gasped loudly when he saw Arris and rushed over to the man, walking around him like an over-excited predator, clapping his hands in delight. 

“Oh, Geralt, look! Isn’t he gorgeous!?” Jaskier asked excitedly and Geralt just smiled politely, nodding while adjusting his watch.

“Yes, Jask, he looks wonderful,” Geralt said, making Kaleb chuckle quietly, and Jaskier gasped again when he got a better look at the pattern on his back.

“Oh, it’s amazing!” Jaskier clapped his hands again in excitement. Arris rolled his eyes while Jaskier grabbed his arm and started tugging him to the door. Kaleb shoved a pair of elegant boots at him, and Arris reluctantly slipped them on. He barely had them tied when Jaskier was pulling at him again, and Arris looked over his shoulder to see Kaleb handing Geralt his wallet and keys, then Geralt was following them. Arris frowned when he was shoved into the car, frowning harder still when they drove for at least thirty minutes, and practically sobbed when he was pulled to the front of a line and pushed inside a very loud and very brightly coloured club, full of hot, gyrating bodies and flashing lights. Arris was left with Geralt while Jaskier left to go get them drinks, the two standing awkwardly side by side until, finally, Jaskier returned a minute later with drinks in hand. 

Arris sighed heavily, the couple easily getting engrossed with one another and unintentionally leaving Arris to his own entertainment. Arris cursed under his breath, making sure he had his wallet and keys in his pocket before giving a glance to Geralt and Jaskier. Geralt was checking his phone with a look of irritation, and Arris huffed quietly before downing his drink, caught Jaskier’s attention long enough to motion to his empty glass than at the bar, and then began weaving his way through the crowd. 

Arris placed his glass on the counter and motioned the bartender for another, folding his arms across the damp surface and huffing as he leaned heavily on it. The night was barely starting and he was already regretting letting Jaskier convince him to come out.

“Oi! Whiskey,” a large voice boomed behind Arris and the man jumped out of his skin, spinning around angrily to give the man a piece of his mind but stopped short when he came face to chest with a large burly chest, covered in a simple tee-shirt that looked one size too small with the way the fabric strained against the muscles there. Arris blinked and tilted his head slightly, mouth falling open as his gaze met those of familiar amber. “Arris?” 

“Letho!” Arris exclaimed excitedly, taking a small step back, almost pressing himself against the bar, to give the man a once over. He looked good, the dark green shirt he wore dipping at the collar in a small v, the hem loose and untucked from his black denim pants. He looked back up to Letho’s face, noticing the man staring at him. “What? Something on my face?” Letho shook his head slightly.

“Yes, actually. I thought your piercings were old?” Letho asked and Arris laughed. 

“No. I just take them out when working in the front of the cafe!” Arris said and Letho smiled lazily, glancing behind Arris and tipping his head to the counter. Arris squeaked when Letho reached around him, barely an inch between them, and came back with their drinks in hand, smirking at him. Arris snatched his drink from Letho’s grip. “What are you doing here?” Arris asked, taking a sip of his drink.

“Well, to be honest? I have no fucking clue!” Letho groaned and Arris laughed. Letho motioned for Arris to follow him, the two of them retreating to the quietest corner they could find. “A friend invited me out, but I can’t find the stupid fuck. I’m beginning to regret this whole thing.” Arris smiled sympathetically. 

“Oh, I can agree to that. My friends are ignoring me for each other. Kind of lame being the third wheel,” Arris said, smiling tightly as he looked at his drink. Letho made a low noise in the back of his throat, glancing at Arris over the rim of his drink. He watched as Arris’ face shifted through various emotions before settling on annoyed as he glared at someone who had gotten too close to his personal space. Letho chuckled quietly, downing his drink quickly and setting it on a random table.

“This isn’t your kind of place, is it?” Letho asked, leaning against the nearest wall and hooking one ankle over the other while crossing his arm over his chest. Arris rolled his eyes. 

“A year ago I got out of a real nasty relationship. As I’m sure you’ve learned,” Arris smiled, glancing at Letho. “I am… unaccustomed to these types of places, I was kept inside the same apartment for years, only leaving to go shopping.” Arris played nervously with the straw of his drink. Letho scowled, licking his lips as he thought over his next words.

“Your old relationship sounds like a shit storm.” Letho winced at how harsh the words sounded but was relieved when Arris laughed quietly, a smile gracing his lips. 

“Yeah, it was.” Arris glanced up at Letho, leaning his head back against the wall with a thump. “I suppose my help with your ex was a help for both of us,” Arris said with a small smile, and Letho gave a small nod. He looked down to his feet, drumming his fingers across his forearms before looking up and taking a risk. Letho reached over, tracing the back of his fingers across Arris’ jaw and smiled when the other man leaned into his touch. He let his fingers glide across Arris’ jaw then curled them to trace the pad of his index finger back down, before tilting Arris’ head up with a single digit, stepping closer to the smaller man. 

“You know… I wouldn’t mind a repeat,” Letho purred, leaning in so close that he was shielding Arris from the rest of the room, the music and people going about their business and completely oblivious to the couple pressed against the far wall. Even in the fluctuating lights of the club, Letho could see the blush that was creeping across Arris’ cheeks, his eyes turning down towards the drink in his hands while Letho reached up and placed one hand against the wall behind his head. His other hand slipped under Arris’ fingers and lifted the glass from his grip. Letho made an exaggerated show of lifting the glass, moving it in front of Arris’ line of sight, before moving it to the left and extending his arm as far as it would reach to set it down onto the table with his empty glass. 

Arris’ eyes never left his, even with the exaggerated show of removing the glass, and Letho’s lips turned up in the smallest of smiles as he brought his now free hand back to Arris’ jaw, sliding the other to the back of the smaller man's head. Letho traced his thumb across Arris’ lower lip, pausing when his thumb brushed the ball of the lip piercing sitting innocently in the middle of Arris’ lip, and gently pressed against it, making Arris’ eyes flutter shut. Letho glanced down when he felt timid hands touch his waist, smiling growing wider as he abandoned Arris’ lip and reached down to take one of those hands and lift it up and onto his chest, placing his hand firmly against Arris’ to keep it there before glancing up to see that Arris had opened his eyes and was staring up at Letho through his lashes. Something snapped. 

Letho grabbed hold of Arris’ hips and pulled him up onto his toes, not even bothering to bend down to meet the smaller man in the middle, and going right to lifting him off the floor when he found Arris wasn’t high enough to kiss properly. Letho pinned the smaller man against the wall, his chest vibrating with an approving rumble when Arris’ arms wrapped around his shoulders and held on tight. Both men surged forward and their teeth clicked together in their haste to kiss, small laughs exchanged, and then Letho tilted his head for a better angle and dove in to kiss again. Arris’ lip piercing pressed against Letho’s lips and it felt wonderful; much like their first kiss, his own piercings pressing against Arris’ skin and scratching lightly, but unlike their first kiss, this time their noses were pressed together in their eagerness to get as close as possible. The kiss was lazy but eager, Letho’s hands slipping down from Arris’ hips and grabbing hold of his ass, while Arris’ legs came up and hugged Letho’s hips, his ankles hooking on the back of Letho’s calves. 

They kissed and pressed against one another, Arris’ arms wrapping around his shoulders tighter, before curling closer so he could run his hands across the back of Letho’s head, digging the tips of his fingers into the skin. Finally, a low whimper left him. Letho pulled back with a final small flick of his tongue on Arris’ lower lip, teasing the piercing there, and smiled at him. It took a moment for Arris to open his eyes, staring at Letho with a heated gaze that made him want not to care that they were in the middle of a club. 

“So… shall we find your friends?” Letho asked, reluctantly setting Arris back on his feet. Arris pulled his lower lip into his mouth, pondering, while his hands dragged across Letho’s shoulders and down his chest.

“Or…,” Arris started and Letho perked up. He liked or. “You could take me back to your place?” Arris asked, his gaze dropping to Letho’s chest while he played with the fabric of the man’s shirt, expecting to be rejected. 

“Hmmm,” Letho stared down at Arris, reaching up and taking his hands into his. “How about, you call us a cab while I settle the bill? Meet you at the door in, say, ten minutes?” Letho asked and Arris nibbled his lower lip for a second before giving a hesitant nod. Letho smiled and bent down and placed a gentle kiss against Arris’ lips, swatting his rear playfully before heading towards the bar to settle the bill for their drinks. Arris slumped against the wall, staring after Letho, and watched that muscled mountain of a man disappear into the crowd.

Shaking his head, Arris pulled his phone from his pocket and noticed that Jaskier had texted him as well as tried calling. He rolled his eyes and headed to the door, choosing to stay optimistic for Letho to come meet him like he said while pulling up the number to call a cab. He was over this evening and this club; even if Letho didn’t join him, he just wanted to leave, whether it be with the huge man or alone. He stood outside for a few minutes, staring at his phone and swaying subconsciously to the music of the club and playing with his piercing. 

A horn honking right in front of him made Arris jump, and he looked up to see the taxi sitting there and waiting for him. Arris took a glance around, then at his phone, noticing it was more than ten minutes, and sighed as he tucked his phone into his pocket and headed for the cab. Seemed like Letho was too good to be true. Arris opened the door to the back seat and was about to hop in when a large hand grabbed hold of his arm, making him yelp loudly. He spun around to see a red-faced and heavy breathing Letho. 

“You… would not believe how many people block your way when you’re in a rush!” Letho said breathlessly, and Arris blinked dumbly at the man before laughing loudly.

“Not just trying to ditch me then?” Arris asked playfully, and Letho looked offended. 

“Never in a million years, Little Bird,” Letho growled, and Arris blushed at the pet name. Letho loosened his grip on Arris’ arm, using the hold to help the man into the cab, and only climbed in once he was seated. Letho told his address to the taxi driver before settling into the seat, reaching out to pull Arris to him, draping one arm across the top of the seats while holding Arris close to his side. Arris was stiff and tense at first, but as time went on, Letho’s fingers drew soothing circles into his side and back, and he slowly melted into Letho’s side, resting his head on Letho’s large shoulder. Arris could have stayed there forever, so when the cab came to a stop and it was announced that they had arrived, a low growling noise came out of him that made Letho laugh quietly. He did his best not to jostle the smaller man as he reached for his wallet and paid the cabbie, pulling Arris with him as he exited the car. 

“I can walk, you know,” Arris grumped as Letho held the smaller man up by the waist.

“Can you? I don’t know…,” Letho said skeptically, making Arris chuckle.

“Oh, I suppose you’re right,” Arris said dramatically, going limp against Letho’s side, trusting the man to catch him. “My legs are broken, what shall I do?” Arris’ voice was borderline tragic and Letho laughed. Bending at the knees, Letho wrapped his arms more securely around Arris’ waist and lifted, making Arris yelp in surprise as Letho hoisted him up, resulting in Arris’ hip being so high it sat on the larger man's shoulder. “Don’t you dare drop me, Letho,” Arris growled, hugging the man’s head as he laughed. 

“I would never,” Letho teased, tightening his hold on Arris’ legs as he walked down the path to his house. When they reached the door Letho didn’t put Arris down, simply lowered him enough so that he was cradled in the crook of one arm like a seat and fished through his pocket for his keys with the other hand, all while Arris held onto his shoulders and stared at the house with a small smirk. 

“You know, for a big shot lawyer I was expecting something more… extravagant.” Arris looked at Letho and the man snorted, shaking his head.

“Why would I need extravagance? I have a roof over my head, a kitchen to eat in, and a job to keep me busy. I don’t need to flaunt my money,” Letho said and Arris stared at the man in surprise, a slow smile appearing on his lips. “I sold the old house. Something Gaetan wanted me to get when we first started to date,” he added and Arris scoffed. 

“He has gotten the perfect match then,” Arris said and Letho looked up at him from the corner of his eye. He didn’t need any elaboration on what he meant with the look on his face, a look he desperately wanted to get rid of and never see on that handsome face ever again. Letho opened the door to the house and stepped inside, finally setting Arris down on his feet so he could remove his shoes. 

“Welcome to my abode. Make yourself at home,” Letho said with a wave of his hand and Arris laughed quietly, going about removing his shoes before stepping further into the house and looking around while Letho removed his shoes. His house was nothing over-the-top, a simple two-story with three bedrooms and two baths, a large enough kitchen and living room that could easily sit a decently sized get-together, with a backyard that was large enough that Letho could put in a pool if he wanted. 

Letho watched as Arris explored the space, running his fingers across surfaces and smiling at the pictures on the walls. Letho caught himself staring at Arris’ back, his eyebrow lifting high as, without the lighting of the club, he finally noticed that the design on his back was made from a silk ribbon, not part of his shirt.

“You have… you have a corset?!” Letho blurted out and Arris looked over his shoulder at him, a coy smile spreading across his lips. 

“I do. I have a few others too,” Arris said, turning away again as he walked into the kitchen. Letho groaned and followed after him, watching as Arris ran his fingers across the marble countertop. 

“You cook?” Arris asked and Letho laughed.

“Hardly. I burn things more than cook, but I do try. Have all the supplies for it,” Letho said with a wave of his hand at the cupboards, Arris smiled and stared at the kitchen for a moment longer, then walked over to him and wrapped his arms around Letho’s waist.

“Do I get to see the other parts of your house?” Arris asked with a sly grin that made Letho want to kiss it right off him.

“Depends. Where are you hoping to see?” Letho teased and Arris laughed softly, tracing his fingers across Letho’s waist and giving the front of his pants a playful tug.

“Why don’t you show me what's upstairs?” Arris asked and Letho groaned low in his throat, his body following as Arris traced his fingers across Letho’s waist again as he circled the larger man and headed to the stairs. Letho moved after him, catching Arris’ waist as he took the first step up, pulling the man to his body. Their lips met in the middle, Arris laughing quietly as they stumbled up the steps, tugging at each other's clothes as they slowly made their way upstairs. 

Once at the top, Letho overstepped and stumbled into Arris, making both of them laugh as Letho had to use the wall to catch them. Letho smirked down at Arris but blinked in surprise as his pants suddenly felt very loose. He looked down to see that Arris’ fingers were playing with the waistband of his pants, his unbuttoned and unzipped pants, his eyes snapped back up to Arris and barely registered the sheepish look on the blond’s face before he was diving in and stealing his lips in a heated kiss. 

Letho pushed his hands under Arris’ shirt, the touch of his hands against bare skin making Letho growl low in his throat. He started to guide Arris down the hall, moving one of his hands around to lift the hem up and over the perfectly designed silk ribbon while Arris was grabbing at his shirt and tugging it over his torso. Getting Arris’ shirt off and throwing it to the floor, Letho began working Arris’ pants, pausing only a moment to lift his arms as Arris shoved his shirt over his head and added the shirt to the growing pile on the floor. Letho grinned and wrapped an arm around Arris’ waist, lifting the man easily and pulling his jeans down; the man moaned at the display of strength and kicked his legs to help remove his pants. 

Arris lifted his legs and grinned at Letho, hooking his toes into the waistband of his pants and shoving down, the motion making Letho stumble a moment before he stepped out of his jeans and gave Arris a reprimanding look for almost making them trip. Letho dove down and captured Arris’ lips with his again, moaning as he sucked the man’s lower lip into his mouth and nibbled on it while bending at the knees and grabbing hold of Arris’ thighs to lift them. He guided Arris’ legs to wrap around his waist, both men groaning when their naked cocks rubbed against each other. Were those… piercings? 

Letho continued to kiss Arris, both men fighting for dominance over it as their tongues coiled and rolled around each other, the split in Letho’s tongue pinching at Arris’ piercing and playing with the muscle. Arris moaned into Letho’s lips, dragging his nails across the man’s neck and shoulders, one hand coming to the front so he could run his fingers through the surprisingly soft layer of hair covering Letho’s chest. 

Letho kicked open the door to his bedroom, refusing to release Arris’ lips until the last possible moment, when he needed to breathe again. With one final tug on Arris’ lip, Letho pulled back and threw the smaller man onto the bed, laughing softly at the yelp Arris made - but his laughter tapered off as Letho openly stared at Arris, finally getting a full view of the man.

He knew that Arris was ogling the Prince Albert piercing sitting almost innocently on his cock, smirking internally as he realised Arris couldn’t see the Jacobs Ladder on the underside yet. Letho’s eyes raked over Arris, the man’s body sprawled beautifully across his sheets, sun-kissed skin making the silver balls of his nipple piercings stand out in striking contrast. Lethos eyes went down further, licking his lips when his eyes caught the gleam of the navel piercing, and Letho's mouth ran dry when his eyes slid down even further. 

Arris had spread his legs open for Letho when he saw that the larger man was eyeing his nipple and navel piercings, displaying the jewelry he had on his cock. Already half hard from all the kissing and rubbing against one another, Arris’ cock laid heavy against his thigh, the bottom ball of his apadravya piercing sitting just above the double set of frenum. Arris watched as Letho cataloged them, eyes widening a little more as his gaze travelled further down and spotted the lorum, sitting just above his balls. Arris licked his lips and caught Letho’s attention, moving his hands across his body and dragged his fingertips over his nipples, to his navel, and finally to wrap around his cock and pull it to his belly as his legs spread further and Letho sucked in a harsh breath when he caught sight of the guiche piercing on Arris’ taint. 

Arris smiled, a feral thing, when he saw Letho’s cock give an interested twitch at the sight of all the piercings on his cock, a small amount of worry filling him as he wondered if Letho would be able to fit inside him -he man was huge! Letho’s cock must have been, at the very least, ten inches in length and who knew how thick; Arris wondered if it was the same size as his wrist. 

Arris looked up at Letho to see the man was hesitating, perhaps seeing uncertainty on his face, so Arris rolled onto his knees, crawled to the edge of the bed and reached out to him. Letho hesitated for a moment before stepping close to Arris and slipping his hand into Arris’ extended one. The blond smiled and pulled Letho onto the bed, leading him to sit at the head of the mattress. Arris gave him a teasing smirk as Letho grabbed some of the pillows and pushed them around, an overabundance was an understatement.

“Have enough?” Arris teased, Letho rolled his eyes.

“Can never be too comfortable,” Letho growled, reaching for Arris’s hips and pulling the man over to straddle his waist. Arris settled in his lap easily, like he was made to be there, and wrapped his arms around Letho’s shoulders, diving down to kiss him again, their tongues tangling together as Letho’s large hands moved from Arris’ hips and up to his back, gripping tightly to the bundle of blonde hair, tugging on it and making Arris whimper weakly and roll his hips. One gentle tug in the right spot, Letho’s finger curling into the hair, and Arris’ braids fell onto his shoulders. Letho made an approving hum, sucking Arris’s bottom lip into his mouth and gently nipping at it before letting it slip from his mouth with a snap.

“Nightstand, top drawer,” Letho growled against Arris’ lips. He loosened his grip on Arris’ body, leaving his fingers in Arris’ hair, and worked his fingers over the ties at the end of each braid while Arris opened the drawer and shifted through it, coming back with a small laugh as he held a bottle of lube and a condom in his hand.

“Always prepared, are you?” Arris asked. Letho rolled his eyes, plucking the condom from Arris’s hand while his other worked at slowly unbraiding all that blond hair. 

“This is older than dirt,” Letho said, as he looked past the condom to Arris, one eyebrow lifting slightly. “I don’t know about you... but it’s been a solid year since I had sex, and I had a screening done when my ex walked out my door.” Letho kept eye contact, staring questioningly at Arris, obviously ready to accept whatever answer the blond gave him.

“I… I had regular screenings, even though I only slept with one person.” Arris looked at the condom in Letho’s hand, then reached out, plucked it from his hand and smirked playfully. “I don’t believe we need this, do you?” he asked, and Letho grinned widely, sliding his thumb under Arris’ hair and grabbing hold of the now free-flowing strands. Arris laughed as he threw the condom over his shoulder, not caring where it landed, while Letho popped the top on the lube, poured a generous amount onto his fingers, and dropped the bottle carelessly on the bed. 

Arris rolled his hips, dragging the cleft of his ass and the guiche piercing on his taint across Letho’s cock; the resulting growl made Arris smile triumphantly despite the shaky breath that left him with the feel of the searing hot flesh rubbing against him. Letho kept a firm grip of Arris’ hair while his lubed up fingers traced along Arris’ rear, blunt fingers digging into the perfectly muscled globe of his cheek before they dipped further and brushed against the ring of muscle, making Arris’ body flinch involuntarily and dip his head further back into the pull of Letho’s grip on his hair. 

Letho growled in approval, pulling Arris’ body back just that little bit more so that it was easier to lean down and take one of those tantalizing, teasing nipples into his mouth, rolling it with his tongue and using the two halves to lathe either side of the piercing. Arris couldn’t help the moan that left him as Letho played with his nipple, those large digits teasing at his hole and barely pressing in until he whined with want and rolled his hips again in such a way that brought his hips down further, one of Letho’s fingers slipping inside easily and making Arris gasp at the stretch. He only had one finger barely in, but Arris loved the way he was being stretched.

“C’mon,” Arris coaxed, running his fingers down the back of Letho’s head and across his shoulders, rolling his hips again and making Letho’s finger slip further inside of him. Arris looked down, seeing Letho staring up at him with his nipple in the larger man’s mouth. “Not gonna break me.” 

Letho growled, low and deep, as he scraped his teeth across Arris’ nipple and made the man shudder and dig his fingers into Letho’s shoulders. He gave a small nip then kissed his way to the other, pulling it into his mouth with a show of hooking the balls with either side of his tongue and tugging on it gently as he moved forward and wrapped his lips around it. Arris’ fingers scratched across his shoulders as Letho pushed his finger in up to the knuckle, testing the stretch as he moved the digit around then pulled it back and joined it with a second finger. Arris’ hips pressed back against the stretch, his mouth hanging open in a silent moan and his head arched back, pillowed now in Letho’s palm as he released the strands of his hair. 

Letho worked his fingers inside of Arris while the man rolled and pushed his hips back on them, shameless in the slow movements of fucking himself on Letho’s hand. Letho didn’t need to move his hand much, he found he only needed to work his fingers apart to stretch Arris while the other did most of the other work. Arris lifted his hips and rolled them back, using the roll to cradle the head of Letho’s cock in the crook of his thigh and hip and push it into a position so that both of their cocks could now rub against one another with every minute roll or thrust of Arris’ hips while Letho stretched him open on thick fingers. 

Letho gasped against Arris’ skin, the muscles in his back flexing, his fingers tightening in Arris’ hair to grip at the golden strands again. Arris could feel, more than hear, the click of metal from their piercings rubbing against each other, a long drawn out whimper leaving him as he could feel the smaller frenum piercings catching against another piercing he didn’t see when Letho stood in front of him. Was that a Jacob's Ladder?

“Oh, fuck,” Arris breathed as Letho’s fingers hooked slightly and angled just perfectly to hit against Arris’ prostate and made the man moan out loudly and dig his fingers into Letho’s back. He rocked his hips more enthusiastically, pressing back against Letho’s fingers as a third was added, the stretch borderline painful yet delicious, and Arris knew he was going to regret the moment that they pulled out from his body. 

Arris moved his hands from gripping Letho’s shoulders, one of them cupping his face while the other reached down and grabbed hold of Letho’s cock, making the larger man groan as pleasure coiled in his stomach. Arris’s hand slipped from cupping Letho’s face to grabbing the back of his neck and squeezing, making him abandon his attention on Arris’ nipple to look up at him. Arris stared down at Letho, gently massaging the back of his neck. 

“You better put this in me soon,” Arris said, giving Letho’s cock an experimental rub with his fingers and smiling as Letho’s shoulders tensed and hips tried to roll into the touch. Letho moved his hand from the back of Arris’s head, patting blindly around for the bottle of lube, and Arris smirked at him before he dipped down and licked at his neck and nibbled his ear, successfully distracting Letho from the task. Arris moaned in Letho’s ear and ground his hips down against his fingers, stretching him wider as he pushed down further against the digits and sunk down far enough to almost reach the knuckle. 

Letho hissed a curse and leaned back, looking around Arris’ hips and made a noise as he spotted the bottle of lube and snatched it up, about the present it to Arris like a trophy, but he had to try and resist the urge to pout when Arris’ stole the bottle from his hand. Arris wiggled the bottle in front of Letho’s sight for a second, continuing to roll his hips against the man’s fingers, and popped the top off and tipped it upside down. Letho’s eyes followed the drip, watching as the stream of lube left the bottle and dropped until it landed on top of Arris’ fingers, watching as those fingers spread wide to expose the skin of his cock and continued to pour out onto it. 

Letho flinched at the sudden cold lube landing on his cock, shivering at the cooling sensation, but it soon went away as Arris wrapped his fingers around his length and began stroking and spreading the lube around thoroughly. When Arris removed his hand from Letho’s cock, he, in turn, removed his fingers from Arris’s hole and smirked when he whimpered at the loss. 

Both men shifted about on the bed, Arris lifting his hips and Letho spreading his knees more so he had some leverage. Arris reached behind him, bottle in hand, and tipped it over Letho’s cock to give it a little extra slick before throwing it aside and gripping the base of his cock, Letho’s hands had found their way to Arris’ hips to hold him, one hand sliding down to hold his cock steady. Arris reached back behind Letho’s head, grabbing hold of the headboard for better balance and stared down at Letho with a small smile and bend down to kiss the top of his head and leaving his lips there, laying stray kisses across the scar on the man’s head as he slowly lowered himself down. 

They both let out weak noises as the head of Letho’s cock pressed against his rim, Letho’s fingers digging into Arris’ hip and forcing himself to keep from thrusting upward into the delicious warmth of the others body. Arris rolled his hips, shifted back and forth, and pressed down, his head rolling to the side as he panted harshly against Letho’s skin, releasing his hold on the base of his cock and reached around to hug Letho’s head to his chest before finally pressing down with enough of his weight that the head of Letho’s prick breached his hole and made Arris gasp out loudly while Letho growled deep in his chest. 

Arris panted heavily, his fingers pressing into Letho’s skin around his neck and stayed very still for a moment, the metal of Letho’s Prince Albert’s piercing rubbing against Arris’s insides so wonderfully already that he needed a moment to collect himself. Licking his lips, Arris sat back and gripped one of Letho’s wrists, looking into his eyes, and blushed deeply to see that Letho was already staring up at him, his eyes clouded with a hungry lust that begged to be fed. 

Arris rolled his hips again, testing the stretch, and sunk down a little bit more. Inch by inch Arris was lowered onto Letho’s prick, each time he rolled his hips and encouraged more stretching with every measured movement. Every ball of Letho’s piercings that popped inside of him made Arris moan and quake, leaning heavily on the larger man as he finally, _finally_ , sank down far enough that his bottom was now flush against Letho’s hips, leaving him panting heavily and shivering as he raked his blunt fingernails all across the back of Letho’s head and his shoulders. 

“Alright?” Letho asked, his voice deeper than before and more gravely, making Arris shiver but nod as he subconsciously moved his hips back and forth to get used to the stretch, to feeling so _full_. 

“Mmmm,” was all Arris managed to say, making Letho laugh softly as his hands travelled up and began petting across Arris’ back in a soothing way, trying to ignore the zings of pleasure every time Arris’ hips moved even the smallest bit. 

“Need to stop?” Letho asked and Arris flinched, leaning up and giving Letho an offended look that made the large man grin. 

“Fuck you,” Arris breathed.

“Mmmm, maybe another time,” Letho said, raking his eyes across Arris’ body before settling his gaze down to where they were connected. “But for now I believe I am fucking you,” He grinned and Arris gasped, smacking his shoulder. They grinned at one another for a while, Arris still rolling his hips on occasion and watched as Letho shivered and his fingers flexed against Arris’ hips, slipping his hands down from Letho’s neck to trace down his shoulders and across his arms, lacing his fingers with Letho’s as he eased the larger man’s hands away from his hips. Letho didn’t fight off the pout this time, staring at Arris as the man moved their hands, shifting their fingers about into more comfortable positions, before finally resting Letho’s hands on the headboard of his bed frame and grinning down at the man as he encouraged him to grab hold of the wood and held onto Letho’s wrists in turn.

Finally, Arris lifted his hips, rolling them, both men moaning out loud at the feel, and sank back down. He continued this motion a handful of times, slow and deliberate, until finally feeling brave enough to pick up the pace. The stretch no longer had any lingering twinges of pain and only pleasure licked down his spine and coiled low in his stomach, as he rolled his hips faster and more confidently, feeling each of Letho’s piercings rub and push against every sweet spot inside of him. Soon Arris was a panting, gasping mess while Letho’s lip was pulled back into a small snarl, low growling mons leaving him. 

He moved like a wave, rolling his hips and arching his back, gaining a rhythm. Letho had released his hold on the headboard and snatched Arris’ hands, lacing their fingers together and hanging on tight to each other as Arris rode Letho’s cock at a deliciously leisurely pace, simply chasing his pleasure. This was the first time Letho and Arris had interacted outside of his morning visits at the cafe, the first time they had downtime together, and they fell into bed so easily with one another that Letho couldn’t even bring himself to believe that this would be a one night only, not with the way that Arris looked at him. Not with the way he made sure that Letho enjoyed every movement of his body. 

Letho let his elbows lean against the headboard, taking Arris’s weight as he moved, he was mesmerizing to watch. Arris’s eyes were half-closed, staring down at Letho with the utmost admiration and hunger, a look that Letho had never received before, even from his ex, and it had a whole new wave of intense pleasure shooting through him. 

Letho lifted their hands and guided Arris to hold onto his shoulders, gently untangling their fingers, sitting forward and wrapping his arms around Arris’ waist to hold him securely before flipping them over, making Arris yelp in surprise, Letho smiling down at him. He leaned down, stealing Arris’ lips in a deep kiss and letting their tongues coil together lazily, pressing his hips closer, pushing further into Arris and the man whimpered loudly at the sensation of being stuffed even further, his fingers scratching across Letho’s shoulders.

He pulled his hips back, pulling out to the point of barely being inside of Arris and listened to the man whimper and moan, trying to push his hips down to get that wonderful cock back inside of him, then Letho thrust forward. Arris wailed as Letho bottomed out, pressing in deep, letting Arris adjust for only a second before he began thrusting into Arris, hard and deep. He knew he was less than graceful, but Letho rolled his hips and snapped them forward, making Arris jostle below him from the movement as he moaned and gasped, eyes closed in bliss. 

It had been a very long time since Letho had listened to someone’s noises of pleasure brought on by him and the sounds were utterly perfect. Letho thrust and pushed his hips, kissing Arris deeply and full of admiration even as he nibbled on the man’s piercing. Arris was perfect around him, hot and tight, arms wrapped around his shoulders and holding into him tightly, nails digging into his skin. Even as those fingers left his shoulders, scratching down his arms, Letho found Arris needed to hold onto him and be held in return. Their fingers laced together as Letho pushed their hands above Arris’ head and kept him pinned, the sounds of their bodies slapping together making Letho growl and groan louder as his breath came out in short gasps. 

Arris’s cock trapped between their bellies, the sensitivity of the piercings making Arris turn into a whimpering and needy mess even more than when he was simply riding Letho’s prick. Now, trapped between their bodies, the friction on Arris’ cock had the man’s body trembling and shivering with need, something that sent Letho into a spiral of needing to see the man cum. 

He pulled back from kissing Arris, staring down at his face, and felt his cock pulse with need at the blissed-out pleasure look on the man’s face, the soft tendrils of his hair sprawled out around his head like a halo and Letho moaned, picking up his pace. Arris cried out, his hips lifting and pushing up to meet the man’s thrusts as his fingers gripped onto Letho’s tightly, whimpering with need when Letho released one of their entangled hands and reached down to grip Arris’ thigh, digging his fingers into the man’s skin. 

Arris could feel the pleasure coiling tighter and tighter in his stomach, his moans turning into needy whimpers and pleas as Letho snapped his hips harder, trying to go deeper, pulling out every sweet noise he possibly could from Arris. 

“A-arris… Little Bird,” Letho mouthed at his neck, panting hard, his hips now stuttering. “Gonna cum, I… where…?” Letho panted hard, his hand turning into a bruising grip on Arris’ thigh as he tried to control himself. Arris whimpered, opening his eyes enough to look at Letho when the man leaned back to stare down at his face and wrapped his legs around Letho’s waist as much as he could to keep the man from pulling out. 

His legs tightening around Letho’s waist was answer enough. Letho’s pace picked up once again, his grip releasing from Arris’ thigh and moving to between their bodies. Letho barely had to touch Arris’ prick; his fingers dragged across the piercing at the throbbing red head and barely caressed the other silver ends that sat along his shaft before Arris was choking on a cry as the crest of his orgasm had his body clenching tight around Letho. 

The pulsing heat around his cock, the noises coming from Arris, the weak moan of a broken voice whispering his name; Letho thrust only twice more before he was spilling inside of the other man. Pressing his forehead against Arris’ neck as his shoulders trembled from the force of his orgasm, leaving him breathless and gasping for air. Arris wrapped around Letho the best he could, coiling around the larger man like an octopus and clinging tightly as they both regained their breath. 

“Mmmmh,” Letho peppered kisses across Arris’ neck and shoulder, feeling himself grow soft inside the other man, and Arris smiled, reaching up to lazily trace his fingers across the top of Letho’s head and down to his neck then back up. “Shower?” Letho asked tiredly against Arris’s neck.

“Hm, would be best. Ever try cleaning up dry cum? Very irritating,” Arris said, still smiling, and Letho huffed a laugh against his neck before leaning up and staring down at him. “Hmm?” Arris hummed in question but Letho shook his head and smirked, kissing Arris’ lips sweetly and wrapped an arm around Arris’ waist then lifted.

He carried Arris to the shower, only setting him down when he finally had the shower going and the water at a temperature that they both liked, then moved under the stream with Arris wrapped in his arms. He helped clean Arris’ body of his release, torn about his feelings on not being energetic enough for another round even as Arris got hard again with being stretched and brushed against. He was told that it was fine, and to just ignore it, but Letho ignored him in turn and sunk to his knees, pressing Arris against the shower wall, and took Arris’ cock into his mouth and began to suck and lick with vigour. Arris decided that split tongues were his new favourite thing.

Once they were all clean, and Arris was completely boneless, Letho dried them both off and carried Arris back to his bed. Kicking off the soiled comforter and pushing back the sheets, he pushed the pillows about and settled Arris down on the mattress before turning and grabbing a spare blanket from the closet. Letho threw the blanket on the bed and climbed in himself, pulling Arris close to his chest and tucking the smaller man’s head under his chin, smiling when Arris snuggled in further, puffing out a content breath, their legs slotting together, and Letho idly ran his fingers through the damp ends of Arris’s hair as they drifted to sleep.

Letho fell asleep faster that night than he had any other for the past year, hugging his Little Bird close to his chest, protected, and was more content than he could remember ever being. His last thought before he drifted to sleep was the desire to speak to Arris in the morning, to ask the man’s willingness to try dating.

~~~~~ 4 AM The Next Morning ~~~~~

When Arris woke, he momentarily forgot where he was. Attempting to sit up was met with a discontented grunt and a weight slung around his waist tightening and keeping him from moving too far. Arris peeked up and smiled, his sight quickly adjusting to the darkness, and he reached up to gently trace his fingers across Letho’s face. He caressed the bridge piercing, then the bar further down, traced his thumb across the snake bites and traced the back of his fingers across Letho’s cheek. 

The action made Letho stir, but not wake, and Arris stifled a laugh. His attention was drawn to a quiet buzzing noise that made his brow scrunch up in confusion until he realized it was his alarm, he completely forgot he had work today!

Arris easily rolled from Letho’s arms now that he had a purpose for leaving them and quickly retreated into the hall and found his pants, turning the alarm off before it could get too loud and wake Letho. Arris stared at the time, his brow lifted as he shifted his gaze out the window and realized how close to the cafe he was, a smirk appearing on his face as he realized he had some time to kill. 

He dropped his pants and walked back into the room, seeing Letho blindly reaching across the section of the bed he once occupied, and crawled back into bed. Throwing the blanket over his head and crawling up from there, he paused, his chest low enough to graze over Letho’s thighs, and looked down to see the man’s cock standing at attention. Arris made a low humming noise in the back of his throat and crawled back down an inch or two on Letho’s thighs before settling into the space between them, brushing back loose strands of his hair as he took Letho in hand and began to gently move his hand across the length. 

Letho let out a noise, his hips twitching into the touch, and Arris smiled with delight as he moved his hand faster, being careful not to move the piercings in a painful way. Arris moved his hand up and rubbed his thumb across the slit, rubbing gently as he encouraged the bead of pre-cum to swell with his movements. Once satisfied that Letho was sufficiently hard and leaking, Arris dragged his tongue from base to tip and swallowed down the head. 

“Mmgh! T’fuck…?” He felt Letho shift, leaning to the side, and a clicking noise told Arris that Letho had turned on a bedside lamp. The shifting of the comforter and suddenly Arris’s eyes were full of yellow light from the lamp and a slightly confused Letho. They stared at each other for a moment, Letho’s brain slowly catching up to what he was seeing, while Arris started to stroke the length that wasn’t in his mouth and made Letho flop back down onto the bed, throwing an arm over his eyes. 

Arris hummed in approval and went back to his task, bobbing his head up and down and taking more and more each time, testing how far he could go. Letho’s head reached the back of his throat and, with disappointment, Arris realized he couldn’t take more, not now at least, and pulled back. He pulled off of Letho’s cock and kissed the head, grabbing the piercing with his teeth and giving the gentlest of tugs, one that made Letho’s hips buck into the action as he swore colourfully. Arris smiled, delighted with himself, then went back to working Letho’s length with his mouth and hand, his other hand gripping Letho’s scrotum and giving a playful tug, again making Letho’s hips jerk and thrust forward. 

Arris could have so much fun finding each and every sweet spot on this man, loving the tired whimpers and moans coming out of him, loving it as Letho reached down and gripped his hair but didn’t force him to swallow him further. Arris worked his tongue, dragging his piercing across Letho’s and even pressed the ball of it against his slit, making Letho swear loudly. It was Arris’ only warning before suddenly his mouth was being filled with Letho’s release, the hand in his hair shaking in its grip, and Arris wrapped his mouth around the head and _sucked_. Letho whimpered, hips jerking up and trying to get more, while Arris splayed his hand across his lower belly, a silent order to not move any more than what he was, and Letho felt any brain function he may have had at that moment get sucked out through his cock. 

Just as he was starting to get too sensitive, Arris pulled off and gave one final lick to Letho’s prick, cleaning any stray drops of release, and swallowed. Letho groaned tiredly, lifting his arm from his eyes and reached down to settle his hand on Arris’ lower back as the man crawled up his body and settled on top of him. Letho tilted his head, opening his eyes to stare tiredly up at Arris, who was smiling sweetly down at him before tilting his head and placing a single sweet kiss on his lips. 

“I need to go,” Arris whispered against his lips, making a low noise of protest leave him. “I forgot I had work, otherwise I’d stay in bed with you all day,” he added, kissing Letho’s lips again, gently licking into his mouth. Letho could taste himself on Arris’ tongue, not as unpleasant as he thought it’d be, and did his best to kiss him back but Arris pulled away too soon and leaned over, clicking the lamp off. “Go back to sleep, Letho. It’s too early for you,” Arris teased, “I’ll see you at the cafe soon,” Arris placed one final kiss on Letho’s lips before rolling off of him, pulling the blankets back over his body and watched as Letho tiredly pulled the pillow Arris had used to his chest and cuddled into it before falling asleep again. 

That giant mountain of a man had no right being that adorable. Arris smiled and resisted the urge to climb back into bed with Letho, shaking his head as he went into the hall and collected his clothes, pulling them on with a little difficulty when he did up his pants and only just then realized how _sore_ he was. With a small shake of his head and a gentle rub to his behind, Arris went downstairs and peeked in Letho’s kitchen. He didn’t want to leave the man to cook for himself; with Arris’ luck the man would burn it all and just come to the cafe anyway. Not that that was a bad thing, but after last night Letho needed something to eat, so he opened the fridge and cupboards to take a look at what he could make for him.

~~~~~~~~~~

When Letho woke, he blinked lazily against the pillow in his arms and if it wasn’t for the smell of another man’s cologne hanging in the air he would have sworn that last night was all a painfully torturous dream. Letho slowly sat up and looked out the window, the early morning rays of sun filtering into his room and made him just want to curl up with the pillow again. Instead, he climbed out of bed and moved into the hall. Running a hand over his head before collecting his clothes, he took them back to his room to throw in the hamper and grabbed a pair of sweats to wear, tugging them on as he went to the kitchen. Not that he was good at cooking, but his stomach was insisting that it be fed.

Letho paused when he entered the kitchen, blinking a few times just to make sure he wasn’t imagining it. There on the counter sat a plate covered with a plastic dome - when did he buy that? - and he walked over to investigate. There was a note tucked under the plate and Letho tugged it out and unfolded it, lifting the dome from the plate. His mouth fell open at the sight of three apple turnovers sitting on the plate. They looked so delicious and yet Letho didn’t want to eat them, surprised at how _pretty_ they looked, his eyes drifting from the pastry to the paper in his hand, and a small smile tugged at his lips as he stared down at the elegant handwriting.

_“Letho,_

_I hope you don’t mind, I raided your kitchen. For a man who doesn’t cook often, you have a lot of ingredients.  
I’m sorry I had to leave, if I didn’t have to work I would still be curled up in bed with you. Eat the turnovers, I know you will be hungry when you finally wake.”_

There were a few scribbles on the page like Arris had written things down but then scratched them out, making Letho’s brow lift.

_“I really liked last night, loved it in fact, and I do hope you meant what you said before… about there being a next time. I hope to see you again soon.”_

Letho looked further down the page to see Arris had signed his name, pointlessly elegant and swoopy in a way that made Letho smile, and a phone number. Letho groaned and immediately dashed away from the counter, running back upstairs to grab his phone, then returned to the kitchen to put the number in. When he was done, Letho dropped his phone onto the counter, picked up one of the pastries and took a bite. 

The flavour exploding across his tongue made him not only moan like a porn star but also froze him in place, staring down at the fluffy pastry in his hand. He only ate from one place that made pastries like that, only one store he ever went to regularly. Letho barely finished the pastry in his hand as he scrambled for his phone and keys, running to the door and barely remembering to put on shoes and grab his coat before running outside. He would eat the other pastries later...

Letho sprinted down the street, uncaring of the strange looks he was getting from the few people who were walking around at this hour, and didn’t slow down until he was at the cafe doors and pulling them open so hard, so fast, the glass wobbled and hinges squealed in protest. He looked about frantically, breathing hard, and the sight of Jaskier coming out of the kitchens made his heart jump into his throat.

“Sorry, we’re not quite open yet, you’ll have-- Oh! Letho!” Jaskier looked up from tying his apron and smiled widely, pausing as he saw the red flush look of his cheeks then smiled even wider. “He’s in the back. You can go.” Jaskier said, lifting the top access of the counter for Letho to pass through. Letho shouldered his way through, ignoring the teasing grin on Jaskier’s face, and walked to the kitchens. 

He froze when he was past the doors, staring wide-eyed, and watched as Arris wiggled himself out of the shirt from last night and threw it into the far corner where coats were hung, spinning around and putting something into the oven then spun about again and grabbed another shirt that was draped on the back of a chair. Arris paused and reached back, touching at the ribbon still decorating his back and frowned as he lifted his head to the door, no doubt to call for Jaskier, and stopped with his mouth hanging open and eyes slowly growing wide.

“Letho?” Arris stared at him in surprise and Letho surged forward, taking the man into his arms and kissing him soundly on the lips. Arris made a noise of surprise, quickly melting into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Letho’s shoulders and hugging the man close.

“Yes,” Letho breathed, making Arris tilt his head in confusion. “To there being a next time, yes, and another yes, and all the other yeses I need to say to have you,” Letho breathed and Arris blushed a bright red.

“All this over an apple turn over?” Arris teased and Letho snorted, pressing his face to Arris’ neck. 

“I was in love with your pastries, I didn’t know it was you who made them, and from the moment I met you… I….” Letho licked his lips, pulling back and staring down at Arris. “Date me.” 

“What?” Arris’s eyes went comically wide.

“Date me. I’ve liked you since the moment you came to assist me with Gaetan in front of the cafe, the moment you stepped out that door and approached me. Date me,” Letho breathed, placing soft kisses against Arris’ lips. Arris felt his eyes well up, leaning into Letho’s touch, his kisses, and finally, he gave a sharp nod. He never thought someone would want him, not after everything he’d been led to believe, and even after healing. Now, being wrapped in Letho’s arms, he wanted nothing more than to stay there forever.

“Aright, yes. Yes, I’ll date you,” Arris said and the smile Letho gave him was blinding. They stayed pressed together for a long time until finally pulling away when there was a quiet cough from the kitchen doors, they both looked to see Kaleb standing there, arms folded over his chest, and glaring at them.

“Kaleb! I… Uhm…” Arris looked from his brother to Letho, both of them looking flustered. 

“You both lost me twenty bucks! I hope you’re fucking happy!” Kalbe yelled and the pair blinked stupidly. “You couldn’t have waited at least an hour longer?!” Kaleb asked, completely put out, and only then were they aware of Jaskier’s yells of victory from the front.

“You… you bet on this?” Arris asked, looking up at Letho who shrugged his shoulders and glared over at Kaleb.

“Oh please, the moment Jaskier told me about the kiss you both had in the front of the store, it was only a matter of time. Then Jaskier and Geralt pulled you both out for a drink, then they couldn’t find you…” Kaleb trailed off, both Letho and Kaleb groaning loudly. 

“I’m going to kill that wolf,” Letho growled, making a move to leave the kitchens, but stopped when Arris started laughing. He looked back at the other man, brow lifted. 

“I hate all of you,” Arris laughed, “however... “ Arris reached over and grabbed Letho’s arm, hugging it close. “I did get something pretty wonderful.”

Letho felt a blush rise on his cheeks, looking away from Arris and rubbed the back of his neck for a moment then looked back and smiled, grasped Arris’ chin between his forefinger and thumb, and tilted the man’s head back, meeting him in the middle for a kiss.

~~~~~ ~~~~~

The first year that Letho and Arris were together, Kaleb worried that the two were moving too fast when on their anniversary Letho had asked Arris to move in with him, but by the time their second year anniversary rolled around and the two were still going strong his worry lessened. 

The cafe was doing so well that Kaleb gifted Arris the deed to the building with his brother's name on it, ownership transferred recently, and when Arris looked over to Letho the larger man just looked away and took a long sip of his coffee. Kaleb claimed it was a security masseur, something that if it failed Arris wouldn’t feel responsible and get set back on his recovery. Letho had learned everything about what Arris had gone through when he was with Emhyr, the abuse, the trash talk, everything, he even began to pity Gaetan and wondered if the man would be able to withstand the punishment. 

Letho had branched off from the firm, opening a private office on top of the cafe so that he could be closer to Arris during the day, resulting in more than a few naked sleepovers in his office. Jaskier gifted them a pullout bed sofa for Letho’s birthday, making Arris turn bright red and turn back to the pastry he was currently working on. Letho had hired another man to take his place at the main office, a man of equal stature who went by the name Vanik, a large bear of a man, the two of them becoming easy friends. 

Three years after their first night together, two years after moving in together, Letho was in his office doing paperwork and discussing a new case with Vanik when Arris knocked at his door looking hesitant. 

“Arris? What’s wrong?” Letho was on his feet as soon as he saw the look on his lover’s face, Arris’ eyes darting back and forth between the two large men. 

“Letho… I…” Arris sighed, unable to form the words so he reached to the side and wrapped his arms around something, speaking in a hushed tone and out of all the things Letho had expected, he was not expecting Arris to pull Gaetan into view, holding the man against his chest protectively. 

“What happened?” Arris looked towards Vanik when the larger man spoke, casting worried glances between Arris and Gaetan.

“What would you need to charge someone with power, and resources, for abuse?” Arris asked, looking from Vanik to Letho. Letho sighed and scratched his cheek, scowling.

“Is this his doing?” Letho asked, pointing to Gaetan. “You shouldn’t believe his words, Little Bird. Gaetan is a lying cheat,” Letho spat and Arris frowned, nodding slowly.

“Be that as it may, my love, but in this case, I believe him,” Arris said, coaxing Gaetan further into the room, closing the door firmly behind them. He reached for Gaetan’s shirt but the man flinched from his touch, Letho watching in surprise as Arris coaxed the man as if he was a scared kitten. Arris held onto one of Gaetan’s hands and lifted his shirt, both Letho and Vanik hissing at the large bruise peeking out from a bandage that was wrapped around the majority of his torso.

“What happened?” Letho growled, quickly approaching, touching Gaetan’s side with care, a strange look passing over Arris’ face. 

“Emhyr. He doesn’t make marks where anyone can see,” Arris said, watching as Letho examined Gaetan’s side with care. A small sigh slipped past his lips and they all sat down to talk about everything they would need; Arris already knew of a few people that would help testify but the main issue was more evidence and after a long silence Arris announced that he could help with that. He gave Letho a folder that was at least two inches thick, full of pictures and other documentation of Arris’ abuse while he was with Emhyr. 

The case took up most of Letho and Vaniks’ time after that, the two of them spending a great deal of time with Gaetan while Arris was only asked the basic of information before being shooed away and told when to show up and court and Arris began to slip into himself. The first time Kaleb noticed was when Arris burnt a batch of cookies, his brother completely zoned out. The second time was when Arris accidentally mixed salt instead of sugar into his mix, noting how little time Letho was spending with his brother, and suddenly Kaleb was raging. Not this, never this, he will kill Letho before he watches his brother slip back into that shell. 

“What, the fuck, Letho!?” Kaleb slammed Letho’s door shut one evening, hissing quietly at the man and uncaring of his company. Vanik and Gaetan looked over at Kaleb as the smaller man walked angrily to Letho’s desk, slamming his hands down on top of it. “I get that you’re busy with this case, but my brother is just as much as a victim as your fucking affair!” Kaleb growled.

“Affair?” Letho questioned, his brow pinching. 

“When was the last time you slept in the same bed as Arris? When were you last home with him? When did you see him last?” Kaleb asked angrily, glaring at the man. Letho’s brow pinched harder, looking down at his desk. 

“I saw him this morning,” Letho said hesitantly.

“Wrong, you got a coffee from him this morning, with him at your side,” Kaleb said and pointed towards Gaetan. The man in question suddenly sat straight, staring wide-eyed atKaleb. Letho’s eyes suddenly grew wide with horror and he dropped everything he was working on and ran out of the office, Kaleb turning his glare towards Gaetan. “If I find you fucking my brother’s boyfriend behind his back, Emhyr will be the least of your fucking problems,” Kaleb hissed and sent a glare towards Gaetan that had the smaller man hiding behind Vanik. The pair watched as Kaleb left, Vanik turning his attention to Gaetan and smiled.

“I told you we should have at least told Letho and Arris,” Vanik teased and Gaetan smacked the large man’s shoulder, making him laugh before tilting over and placing a gentle kiss on the man’s lips. 

It took Letho two weeks to get Arris back to how he used to be, even then the blonde-haired man was still guarded. It took six months for the case against Emhyr to close, a guilty ruling from the jury that resulted in Emhyr getting ten years behind bars and, with the severity of the wounds that Arris had supplied with his file, all his assets were taken, leaving the man with nothing when he got out of prison. Not even a wife, the woman leaving him as soon as the charge was made. 

A celebration was held at the cafe, Arris cooking everything while Kaleb mixed drinks. Vanik had announced his relationship with Gaetan, wrapping an arm around the smaller man’s waist and hoisting him close. Arris had smiled and offered his congratulations to the couple, but then vanished back into the kitchens while everyone else did the same and Letho snuck away to find him, smiling as he saw the man leaning over the table and sketching in his idea book. 

“Too much?” Lehto asked, his voice making Arris jump in surprise. 

“Hmm? Oh, no, no,” Arris glanced up at Letho, offering a weak smile, then looked back at his book. “Just…” Arris huffed, putting his pen down asLetho walked over to him, pulling him into his arms. 

“I’m sorry, these past months have been hard and I haven’t been a very good boyfriend,” Letho said, pressing his lips to Arris’ hair. 

“It’s okay, I know the case meant a lot to you, for Gaetan…” Arris said, making Letho frown and pull back, grabbing hold of Arris’ chin and tilting his face up.

“And for you. I did it for you too, you suffered much longer than Gaetan did,” Letho frowned and Arris huffed, looking away. “Listen…” Letho put his hands on Arris’ waist. “I love you,” Arris’s head snapped up, staring at Letho’s face. “I love you, and only you. Now and always,” Letho said, dipping down and placing soft, gentle kisses on Arris’ lips. Arris was too stunned to realize anything else around him, Letho reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small box, opening it and slipping the simple silver band onto Arris’s ring finger and only after Letho had finished kissing him did Arris look down and register his new accessory. “Only you, forever and always, if you’ll have me,” Letho placed one last gentle kiss on Arris’ lips, smiling sweetly down at him. 

He began to worry when Arris didn’t move right away, not saying anything, opening his mouth about to take back what he said, but then Arris was throwing his arms around Letho’s shoulders with a loud noise, crashing their lips together. 

“I love you, love you,” Arris repeated, hugging tightly to Letho while the man wrapped his arms around Arris’s waist. “Also, yes. A million yeses,” Arris said and Letho laughed against his lips. 

“I told you!” Arris and Letho whipped around to see everyone crowded at the door, Vanik with a large grin and pointing at the pair while Gaetan was trying his best to not laugh. “Someone owes me a hundred!” Vanik spun around and looked through the crowd, Kaleb’s voice yelling “Fuck!” somewhere in the crowd. 

Arris groaned, rolling his eyes, and Letho set him down with a parting kiss to his forehead before sprinting after Vanik. When the man noticed the look in Letho’s eye, he yelped in a completely unmanly fashion and tried fleeing. Gaetan walked over to Arris and smiled at him, gushing over the ring with Arris for a moment before they both came out of the kitchen when they heard things falling over; and proceeded to laugh as their men had started to wrestle right there in the middle of the cafe.

Life was finally good, and never again will there be a dull moment.

**Author's Note:**

> Arris is an Original Character I made for my one fic ["The Feast"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26359186/chapters/64198642) that now has a series of his own with Letho, ["Witcher's Crane and Viper" ](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1937845)  
> Vanik is an Original Character by the lovely Squeakerblue, he will also be appearing in "Witcher's Crane and Viper" in later chapters, thank you for letting me use your baby! <3

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Letho and Arris: Moving On With You](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27890464) by [ilisidi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilisidi/pseuds/ilisidi)
  * [Gruidae](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28627863) by [disaster_imp](https://archiveofourown.org/users/disaster_imp/pseuds/disaster_imp)




End file.
